CHRISTIAN  UNITY 

AND  CHRISTIAN  FAITH. 

A  SERIES  OF  DISCOURSES 

DELIVERED  IN 
ST.  GEORGE'S   CHURCH,    ST.  LOUIS, 

BY  MINISTERS  OF  VARIOUS  CHURCHES. 

WITH  AN  INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY 

By  JOHN  FULTON,   D.D.,  LL.D. 


NEW  YORK: 

ANSON   D.   F.    RANDOLPH  &  COMPANY, 

900  BROADWAY,  COR.   20th  STREET. 


COPYRIGHT,   1885,  BY 
ANSON  D.  F.  RANDOLPH  &  COMPANY. 


NEW  YORK: 

EDWARD  O.  JENKINS'  SONS, 
Printers  and  StereotypcrSy 
20  North  William  St.,  New  York. 


ROBERT  RUTTER, 

Binder^ 
116  and  118  East  14th  Street. 


^  OCT  1  1825  ^ 


CONTENTS 


PAGE 


Introductory  Essay  on  Christian  Unity.  7 
John  Fulton,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

I.  — The  Apostolic  Testimony,       ....  27 

Saml.  J.  Niccolls,  D.D.,  Pastor  Second  Pres- 
byterian Church. 

II.  — The  Argument  from  the  Resurrection  of 

Jesus,  49 

W.  W.  Boyd,  D.D.,  Pastor  Second  Baptist 
Church. 

III.  — The  Argument  from  the  Personality  of 

Jesus  85 

C.  P.  Masden,  D.D.,  Pastor  Union  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church. 

IV.  — The  Ethical  Argument  from  the  Teachings 

of  Jesus,   113 

Rev.  J.  G.  Merrill,  Pastor  First  Congregational 
Church. 

V. — The  Argument  from  the  Influence  of  Jesus 

in  History,   143 

M.  Rhodes,  D.D.,  Pastor  St.  Mark's  Lutheran 
Church. 

VI.— The  Subjective  Argument  from  Human  Ne- 
cessity,  -177 

W.  V.  Tudor,  D.D.,  Pastor  Centenary  Metho- 
dist Episcopal  Church,  South. 

(3) 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY  ON  CHRIS- 
TIAN UNITY. 


JOHN  FULTON,  D.D.,  LL.D. 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY  ON  CHRISTIAN 
UNITY. 


The  lectures  on  some  of  the  Evidences  of  Christian- 
ity now  presented  to  the  public,  were  delivered  in 
St.  George's  Protestant  Episcopal  Church,  St.  Louis, 
on  the  .Sunday  evenings  of  Lent,  1885,  by  minis- 
ters of  the  Presbyterian,  Baptist,  Congregational,  Lu- 
theran, and  Methodist  Episcopal  Churches.  The  Rt. 
Rev.  Dr.  Robertson,  Bishop  of  Missouri,  with  whose 
sanction  the  lectures  had  been  arranged,  was  present, 
and  presided  on  two  occasions.  On  one  occasion 
the  venerable  Dr.  Bowman,  Senior  Bishop  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church,  presided.  On  every 
occasion  the  church  was  thronged  by  an  immense 
congregation  of  eager  listeners,  and  many  hundreds 
were  compelled  to  go  away  for  lack  of  space  to  re- 
ceive them. 

I  have  been  asked  to  prepare  for  this  publication  a 
statement  of  the  considerations  which  led  me  at  first 
to  project  the  course  of  lectures  which  the  approba- 
tion of  my  ecclesiastical  superior,  and  the  co-opera- 
tion of  my  reverend  and  honored  brethren  above 
mentioned,  have  enabled  me  to  realize.  Without 

further  preface  I  shall  proceed  at  once  to  comply, 

(7) 


8 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


regretting  only  that  the  subject  does  not  admit  of 
greater  brevity. 

1. 

I  have  for  many  years  been  mournfully  impressed 
with  the  evils  caused  by  the  divided  state  of  Chris- 
tendom at  large,  and  of  late  years  more  particularly 
with  the  disastrous  consequences  of  the  unnecessary 
divisions  by  which  so  many  of  the  protestant  churches 
are  separated  from  each  other.  Not  very  long  ago 
the  mere  mention  of  this  subject  would  have  sufficed 
to  raise  a  storm  of  controversy  over  the  question 
of  ''Who  did  sin?"  in  the  origin  of  these  divisions; 
and  not  a  few  earnest  but  inconsiderate  souls  would 
have  been  ready  to  maintain  that  divisions  are  of 
actual  advantage  to  the  cause  of  religion.  Happily, 
most  Christian  people  are  now  disposed  to  admit 
that,  as  in  all  family  quarrels,  so  in  every  schism 
which  has  ever  vexed  the  peace  of  Christ's  Church, 
it  is  probable  that  both  sides  "have  sinned  and  fallen 
short  of  the  glory  of  God."  I  count  it  a  happiness 
to  believe  that  the  readers  of  these  lines  will,  for  the 
most  part,  agree  in  what  I  have  to  say  against  the 
plague  of  our  divisions,  and  in  favor  of  some  effort  to 
accomplish  their  removal. 

I.  The  first  remark  w^iich  I  submit  is  that  all  need- 
less divisions  of  the  followers  of  Christ  are  unscriptural. 
Causeless  schism  is  forbidden  in  the  Scriptures  as  a 
sin  ;  no  one  will  say  that  a  divided  array  of  wrangling 


INTRO  D  UCTOR  Y  ESS  A  Y.  g 

sects  corresponds  with  St.  Paul's  conception  of  the 
Church  as  ''one  body  in  Christ";  and  still  less  does 
it  realize  the  vital  and  organic  unity  which  our  Lord 
desired  for  His  followers  when  He  prayed  ''that  they 
all  may  be  one,  as  Thou,  Father,  art  in  me  and  I  in 
Thee,  that  they  also  may  be  one  in  us."  Our  divided 
Protestant  Christendom  does  not  present  these  attri- 
butes of  vital  and  organic  unity,  and  that  it  does  not 
is  due  to  our  thoroughly  unscriptural  divisions. 

2.  It  would  be  idle  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  unc/iar- 
itableness  out  of  which  these  divisions  originally 
sprung,  and  to  which  they  still  tend.  Their  causes  lay 
rather  in  temper  than  in  necessity.  None  of  us  would 
to-day  think  it  necessary  or  desirable  to  create  these 
same  divisions,  if  they  did  not  already  exist.  In  de- 
fending and  promoting  them  there  has  been  an  ex- 
penditure of  controversial  energy  which  has  usually 
been  in  inverse  ratio  to  their  utility.  They  have 
been,  as  St.  Paul  would  have  said,  essentially  carnal. 
Might  he  not  say  to  us  now,  as  he  once  said  to  the 
Church  of  Corinth,  "Ye  are  carnal;  for  whereas  there 
is  among  you  envying  and  strife  and  divisions,  are  ye 
not  carnal  and  walk  as  men?"  If  it  were  objected 
that  divisions  alone,  without  strife  or  envying,  need 
not  be  carnal,  the  answer  lies  in  the  historical  fact 
that  every  one  of  our  divisions  has  actually  sprung  out 
of  strife,  and  has  actually  led  to  envious  contentions. 

If  we  have  now  come  to  a  state  of  mind  in  which  the 
I* 


10 


INTRO  D  UCTOR  Y  ESS  A  Y. 


spirit  of  strife  and  envying  is  not,  the  best  evidence 
of  that  better  spirit  will  be  some  earnest  effort  to  put 
away  the  uncharitable  divisions  which  have  been  at 
once  the  fruit  and  the  prolific  seed  of  those  sins. 

3.  The  wastefulness  of  our  denominational  divisions 
ought  alone  to  make  us  ashamed  of  them.  I  have 
seen  a  single  village  in  which  there  were  as  many 
places  of  worship  belonging  to  different  denomina- 
tions of  Christians  as  there  were  hundreds  of  inhabit- 
ants. As  one  might  suppose,  the  place  of  religion  in 
that  village  was  usurped  by  a  disputatious  and  intol- 
erant sectarianism;  but  if  it  had  been  otherwise,  is  it 
not  pitiable  to  think  of  the  waste  of  men,  money,  and 
energy  spent  by  so  many  separate  organizations,  when 
one  strong  centre  of  religious  life  and  culture  must 
have  been  incomparably  better?  The  instance  I  have 
named  is  by  no  means  unique ;  there  are  hundreds 
like  it  in  the  West ;  and,  to  speak  generally,  but  not, 
I  think,  extravagantly,  I  believe  that  for  the  interests 
of  religion  it  would  be  well  if  one-half  of  the  sincere 
and  godly  men  who  are  now  engaged  in  the  main- 
tenance and  propagation  of  sectarianism  could  be 
withdrawn  from  a  work  in  which  they  seem  rather  to 
be  weakening  each  other's  influence  than  promoting 
genuine  religion.  A  united  Church  would  know  how 
to  employ  them  all  to  some  good  purpose ;  but  there 
is  no  united  Church  directing  them ;  and  schism  is 
worse  than  wasteful ;  it  is  zvaste fully  destructive. 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


II 


4.  It  is  in  great  cities,  however,  that  the  destructive 
results  of  our  unhappy  divisions  appear  without  dis- 
guise in  their  most  unchristian  aspect.  Take  this  city 
as  an  illustration.  If  we  were  organized  as  we  might 
be,  but  as  we  can  not  be  in  our  divided  condition,  I 
suppose  that  there  are  clergymen  enough  to  minister 
to  the  entire  population  ;  and  yet,  simply  for  the 
lack  of  united  organization,  vast  districts  are  left 
destitute  of  Christian  care.  One  district  alone,  con- 
taining some  40,000  inhabitants,  would,  until  recently, 
have  been  destitute  of  religious  influence  if  it  had 
not  been  for  the  Bethel  mission.  Now,  happily,  it 
has  other  missions ;  but  "  what  are  they  among  so 
many?"  Here,  as  in  New  York  and  all  other  great 
cities  on  this  continent,  church  after  church  has  fol- 
lowed the  movement  of  the  wealthier  people  from 
whom  their  support  is  derived ;  and  thus  it  comes  to 
pass  that  the  deserted  districts  are  precisely  those 
which  ought  to  be  best  cared  for,  since  they  are  the 
districts  of  the  poor.  If  we  were  one  body,  as  we 
ought  to  be,  these  districts  need  never  be  deserted. 
The  city,  as  it  grows,  would  be  divided  into  parishes, 
each 'Having  its  own  church  and  its  own  minister,  and 
the  means  of  the  whole  body  would  easily  and  amply 
provide  for  every  one  of  them,  either  from  a  common 
fund  or  by  special  endowment.  It  was  in  this  way 
that  the  Christian  Church  at  first  secured  its  perma- 
nent position  in  every  city  and  rural  district  of  the 


12 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


Roman  empire ;  and  it  is  in  precisely  this  way  that 
the  Church  of  Rome  is  now  endeavoring  to  lay  the 
foundations  of  the  supremacy  in  this  country  to  which 
she  aspires.  While  we,  because  of  our  divisions,  are 
deserting  the  poor,  she  is  taking  hold  of  them  by  her 
schools,  and  preparing  to  retain  her  hold  of  them  by 
establishing  a  universal  parochial  system.  We  may 
preach  till  doomsday,  if  the  world  will  listen  to  us, 
against  the  errors  of  Rome ;  but  while  we  preach,  our 
divisions  are  simply  delivering  the  country  over  into 
her  hands.  And  must  we  not  honestly  confess  that  if 
we  were  to  continue,  for  the  sake  of  our  pernicious 
divisions,  to  abandon  the  care  of  the  poor,  we  should 
deserve  neither  honor  nor  success  ? 

5.  Unless  I  have  greatly  misunderstood  one  of  our 
Saviour's  most  solemn  utterances,  I  suspect  that  our 
divisions  are  worse  than  negatively  unchristian ;  in 
their  effects  they  are  actively  anti-Christian.  What 
else  can  our  Lord  have  meant  when  He  prayed  to  the 
Father  that  they  all  may  be  one,  that  the  world  may 
believe  that  Thou  hast  sent  me  "  ?  If  these  affecting 
words  mean  anything,  is  it  not  that,  in  some  way  or 
other,  the  unity  of  Christ's  followers  is  a  divine  con- 
dition of  the  conversion  of  the  world?  If  that  is  His 
meaning,  is  not  every  needless  division  treason  to  the 
kingdom  of  Christ  ?  And,  to  speak  very  practically, 
what  can  it  be  but  treason  to  permit  the  helplessness 
caused  by  our  divisions  to  hand  over  to  perdition,  so 


INTRO  D  UCTOR  Y  ESS  A  Y.  1 3 

far  as  we  are  concerned,  perhaps  more  souls  than  our 
divided  ministry  is  saving?  With  what  consistency 
are  we  spending  millions  of  money  in  foreign  missions, 
while  the  wasteful  wantonness  of  our  denominational 
divisions,  together  with  the  crippled  inefficiency  which 
is  caused  by  them,  is  virtually  and  needlessly  consign- 
ing more  thousands  of  our  own  countrymen  to  hea- 
thenism in  one  year  than  all  our  missionaries  put  to- 
gether have  ever  converted  in  five  ?  God  forbid  that 
I  should  disparage  any  effort  to  spread  His  Gospel  at 
home  or  abroad ;  but  while  we  are  rejoicing  over  the 
heathen  whom  we  save,  let  us  not  forget  the  account 
we  have  to.  give  of  the  heathen  our  divisions  are 
making  by  the  thousand  in  every  great  city  of  this 
land. 

II. 

1.  It  is  our  happiness  to  know  that  the  divisions 
which  I  have  described  as  unscriptural,  uncharitable, 
wasteful,  unchristian,  and,  in  a  fearfully  true  sense,  anti- 
Christian,  are  not  of  our  making.  In  this,  at  least, 
"  the  fathers  have  eaten  sour  grapes  and  the  children's 
teeth  are  set  on  edge."  We  have  inherited  our  divi- 
sions ;  we  have  not  made  them  ;  and  we  are  responsi- 
ble for  them  only  so  far  as  our  temper  tends  to  per- 
petuate them. 

2.  At  the  same  time  it  will  not  do  for  ministers  to 
forget  that  it  is  ministers  who  have  created  all  the 
divisions  which  exist ;  that  it  is  ministers  who  have 


1 4  INTROD  UCTOR  Y  ESS  A  Y. 

kept  them  alive,  and  that  ministers,  if  they  genu- 
inely wished  it,  might  bring  them  to  an  end.  As  a 
matter  of  fact,  a  great  majority  of  our  people  care 
nothing  about  them  ;  not  a  few  would,  even  now,  be 
glad  to  be  rid  of  them  ;  and  if  ministers  in  general 
were  as  large-minded  as  their  people,  less  than  a  gen- 
eration hence  the  world  would  see  a  different  state  of 
things.  Our  people  are  both  wearied  and  ashamed  of 
sectarianism.  They  resent  the  name  and  despise  the 
thing.  There  are  few  who  would  not  be  shocked  at 
the  facts  to  which  I  have  referred,  and  hardly  any  who 
would  not  be  willing  to  make  personal  or  denomina- 
tional sacrifices  to  remove  the  cause  of  them.  Un- 
happily there  are  not  many  to  whom  this  matter  has 
been  presented  in  a  practical  way.  It  is  strange  when 
one  remembers  the  clear  language  of  Scripture,  and 
stranger  still  when  one  thinks  of  the  fearful  testimony 
of  experience,  and  yet  I  suspect  it  to  be  true  that 
most  Christian  people  in  the  United  States  would  be 
startled  if  they  were  to  be  told,  as  they  ought  to  be, 
that  our  divisions  are  essentially  evil ;  that  they  ought 
to  be  removed ;  that  until  they  are  removed  the  con- 
version of  J;he  world  can  never  be  achieved  ;  that  in 
the  meantime  they  are  apparently  consigning  to 
heathenism  more  souls  than  the  missions  of  all  our 
churches  are  converting,  and  that  in  this  country, 
while  we  are  dallying  with  duty  and  wrangling  about 
trifles,  the  Church  of  Rome  is  laying  the  foundations 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY.  15 

of  future  control  by  the  use  of  a  system  which  we 
might  apply  as  well  as  she,  if  we  were,  as  we  ought  to 
be,  one  body  with  each  other. 

3. *  Thus  far  I  may  perhaps  allow  myself  to  believe 
that  most  of  my  readers  will  agree  with  what  I  have 
said,  but  I  could  not  hope  that  they  would  agree  with 
me  if  I  were  to  attempt  to  propound  a  programme  of 
reunion.  I  have  no  such  purpose.  I  am  frank  to  say 
that  I  do  not  look  for  any  rapid  change  in  the  exist- 
ing condition  of  things.  The  chronic  plague  of  gen- 
erations is  not  to  be  healed  at  once,  however  much  we 
may  deplore  it;  and,  indeed,  it  never  can  be  until  the 
Son  of  Man,  seeing  that  we  have  faith  to  be  healed, 
shall  say  to  His  repentant  Church,  "  Thy  sins  be  for- 
given thee  ;  go  and  sin  no  more  !  " 

4.  And  yet  it  would  be  a  step  (would  it  not  ?)  to- 
ward the  healing  touch  of  our  Master,  if  all  Christian 
people  could  be  brought  to  realize  the  disastrous  con- 
sequences of  division,  and  heartily  to  pray  that  in 
God's  good  time  and  in  His  own  good  way  He  will 
heal  the  plague  of  the  daughter  of  Zion,  so  that  we 
may  all  be  one.  If  the  spirit  of  unity  shall  be  given 
us,  as  it  will  be  given  if  we  faithfully  ask  it,  the  root 
of  all  divisions  will  be  already  gone,  and  many  a  thing 
which  we  could  never  yield  to  the  dictation  of  our 
equals,  nor  concede  to  the  force  of  their  arguments, 
we  may  yet  find  it  easy  to  do,  or  to  leave  undone,  out 
of  pure  love  to  the  brethren. 


i6 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


In  the  meantime  it  seems  to  me  that  there  are  two 
dangers  against  which  we  must  be  specially  on  our 
guard. 

5.  The  first  of  these  is  the  inconsiderate  assump- 
tion of  an  essential  and  sufficient  unity  as  already  ex- 
isting among  us  in  spite  of  our  notorious  divisions. 
This  I  hold  to  be  an  unfortunate  delusion,  which 
hinders  the  reality  of  unity  by  a  radical  misconcep- 
tion of  its  nature.  A  unity  of  mere  sentiment  does 
not  seem  to  me  to  realize  the  vital  and  corporate 
unity  for  which  Christ  prayed  ;  and  to  assume  that  it 
does  is  to  cry,  Peace  !  Peace  !  when  there  is  only  a 
cessation  of  strife.  The  unity  which  breaks  to  pieces 
at  the  Lord's  Table  is  not  the  unity  of  one  body  in 
Christ,"  and  to  imagine  it  to  be  so  is  to  assume  that 
a  general  but  indefinite  good-will  dispenses  with  the 
necessity  of  the  unity  which  Christ  commanded  and 
which  Paul  described.  The  unity  which  has  brought 
upon  us  the  disastrous  state  of  things  to  which  I  have 
referred,  is  a  fatal  unity  indeed,  and  to  be  content 
with  it  is  to  forget  that  "  the  unity  of  the  spirit  "  im- 
plies some  apostolic  "  bond  of  peace,"  by  means  of 
which  the  zeal  and  energy  of  the  whole  Christian 
Commonwealth  can  be  consolidated  and  applied  to 
the  conversion  of  the  world.  No  !  Painful  though 
it  is,  and  ought  to  be,  to  recognize  our  lack  of  unity, 
it  is  better  and  braver  and  manlier  to  face  the  mourn- 
ful fact,  and  then  to  pray  that  we  may  be  delivered 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


17 


from  it,  than  to  rest  satisfied  with  sentimental  fictions. 
To  assume  that  we  are  already  one,  in  the  sense  in 
which  we  ought  to  be  one,  is  to  cease  to  seek  the 
unity  which  alone  can  make  us  one  in  deed  and  in 
truth.  Until  we  can  attain  to  that,  it  is  better  to 
recognize  our  divisions,  and  to  respect  each  other  in 
them,  and  to  love  each  other  in  spite  of  all  of  them,, 
than  to  shut  our  eyes  to  the  notorious  fact  of  their 
existence,  or  to  the  sin  and  shame  and  waste  which 
they  have  caused. 

6.  But,  on  the  other  hand,  if  truth  requires  that  we 
shall  recognize  our  differences  with  fidelity,  surely 
truth  and  charity  alike  require  us  to  remember  the 
incomparably  greater  things  in  which  we  are  at  one, 
and  in  view  of  which  we  ought  to  blush  for  our  divi- 
sions. To  condemn  our  present  separation  from  each 
other,  I  think  it  would  suffice  to  say  that  the  seven 
writers  of  this  book,  belonging,  though  they  do,  to 
seven  separated  denominations  of  Christians,  can  to- 
day with  one  mouth  confess  the  faith  of  Christ  in  the 
very  words  in  which  that  faith  was  set  forth  by  the 
Church  of  Christ  when  Christendom  was  one ;  that 

*  So  far  as  the  writers  of  this  book  are  concerned,  it  may- 
be well  to  say  for  each  and  all,  and  to  say  with  all  possible 
emphasis,  that  we  neither  seek  nor  desire  any  fallacious  unity 
to  be  purchased  at  the  cost  of  virtual  apostasy.  We  pray  for 
the  unity  of  Christ's  Church  with  all  our  hearts.  We  would 
gladly  devote  our  lives  to  its  attainment.  In  order  to  its  con- 
summation, there  are  many  things  which  we  would  be  ready 


i8 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


we  hold  and  teach  one  and  the  same  code  of  morals ; 
and  that  we  find  God's  Holy  Word  in  the  same 
Books  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  These  are  weighty 
facts  which  it  helps  the  cause  of  unity  to  bear  in 
mind,  because,  when  we  think  of  them,  we  are  con- 
strained to  ask :  Why,  then,  are  we  separated  from 
each  other  ? 

to  consider,  or  to  reconsider,  in  a  spirit  of  candor  and  meek- 
ness. But  there  are  some  things  which  we  could  never  con- 
sent to  admit  as  topics  of  discussion,  and  concerning  which 
we  could  admit  no  compromise.  The  elementary  truths 
which  are  common  to  all  Christendom,  and  which  are  simply 
and  summarily  expressed  in  the  Apostles'  Creed,  are  not,  in 
our  judgment,  open  to  debate.  Furthermore,  while  we  would 
not  impose  on  the  unlearned  or  the  feeble  any  larger  or  more 
elaborate  scheme  of  dogma  than  that  which  is  contained  in 
that  Creed,  we  could  never  consent  to  an  ecclesiastical  unity 
which  did  not  accept  it  in  the  sense  in  which  it  is  more  fully 
expressed  by  the  Creed  commonly  called  the  Nicene.  On 
that  basis,  but  on  that  alone,  we  should  be  at  one,  not  only 
with  the  Church  of  the  present,  but  also  with  the  Church  of 
the  past,  when  there  was  indeed  but  "  one  Body  and  one 
Spirit,  one  Lord,  one  Faith,  one  Baptism."  We  pretend  to 
judge  no  man ;  and  in  certain  movements,  looking  toward  a 
better  understanding  among  Christian  people,  there  is  much 
which  commands  our  deepest  sympathy ;  but,  so  far  as  .any 
of  them  intimates  or  implies  a  disposition  to  admit  to  ques- 
tion, or  in  any  way  to  tamper  with  the  broad  foundations  of 
the  Faith  of  Christ's  Church  Catholic,  we  desire  to  be  under- 
stood as  rejecting  from  the  first  all  thought  of  compromise 
concerning  such  things.  The  title  of  this  little  book  has  been 
chosen  advisedly.  It  is  intended  to  give  some  of  the  argu- 
ments for  the  Catholic  Faith ;  and  by  the  Catholic  Faith  we 
understand  the  Apostles'  Creed  as  explained  and  expanded 
in  the  Creed  of  Nicaea,  Constantinoole,  and  Chalcedon. 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


19 


III. 

1.  I  have  come  to  believe,  firmly  and  almost  pas- 
sionately, that  Christian  people  of  every  name  will 
shortly  be  led  by  the  grace  of  God  to  desire  a  resto- 
ration of  the  Church's  broken  unity,  and  that  the  oc- 
casion of  its  beginning  will  be  the  appearance  of  some 
common  danger,  or  the  recognition  of  some  common 
duty. 

2.  In  many  ways  an  impatience  of  denominational 
sectarianism  has  begun  to  be  exhibited  ;  in  the  most 
unexpected  quarters  the  desire  for  unity  has  begun  to 
be  expressed ;  and  I  believe  that  impatience  of  the 
one  and  a  desire  for  the  other  have  been  quickened 
by  the  presence  of  the  common  danger,  and  by  a  rec- 
ognition of  the  common  duty  which  confront  us  in 
the  general  advance  of  a  shallow  but  thoroughly 
destructive  infidelity,  side  by  side  with  a  scientific 
materialism  and  a  philosophical  agnosticism  to  which 
the  adjective  shallow  can  by  no  means  be  applied.  In 
the  presence  of  these  enemies  of  all  religion  and  of  all 
morality,  sectarianism  sinks  into  deserved  contempt. 
For  the  moment,  at  least,  our  differences  are  for- 
gotten, and  we  think  of  each  other  only  as  Christians 
and  as  brethren. 

3.  This  effect  of  our  perplexities  is  altogether 
wholesome,  because  it  compels  us  to  appreciate  the 
immense  value  of  our  agreements  ;  and  by  God's  grace 


20 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


it  may  induce  in  us  a  temper  and  disposition  which 
will  enable  us  by  and  by  to  consider  and  discuss  our 
differences  also  with  a  view  to  their  removal.  To 
seize  the  present  opportunity  and  turn  it  to  advantage 
seems  to  me  to  be  the  duty  of  the  hour;  and  how  can 
Christian  men  better  or  more  sincerely  turn  such  an 
opportunity  to  good  account  than  by  gathering  our 
common  strength  in  the  defence  of  Him  whom  we 
confess  to  be  our  common  Lord?  There  are  many 
doubtful  souls  hesitating  and  questioning  whether 
they  shall  believe  in  Jesus  as  the  Son  of  God.  For 
men  of  different  communions,  whose  fidelity  to  their 
respective  ecclesiastical  obligations  is  beyond  dispute, 
whose  mutual  respect  is  too  great  to  admit  the  sug- 
gestion of  unworthy  compromise,  but  who,  in  the  faith- 
ful performance  of  their  several  duties,  are  able  to 
send  out  anxious  sympathies  over  the  whole  kingdom 
of  Christ — for  such  men  to  stand  together,  telling  the 
perplexed  in  mind  why  they  believe  in  Christ  as  Lord 
and  God  must  surely  be  a  good  thing  in  itself ;  and 
while  it  must  strikingly  emphasize  our  agreement  in 
the  greatest  of  all  verities,  it  must  also  be  a  still 
more  striking  rebuke  of  our  too  real  but  unnecessary 
divisions. 

It  was  these  considerations,  and  other  the  like, 
which  led  me  to  form  the  plan  of  a  course  of  lectures 
in  defence  of  the  Christian  religion,  to  be  delivered  in 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


21 


St.  George's  Church,  by  representatives  of  different 
bodies  of  Christians  in  this  city.  At  the  very  outset 
I  had  to  consider  whether  any  obligations  of  ecclesi- 
astical order  ought  to  deter  me  from  giving,  or  my 
brethren  from  accepting,  the  invitation  which  I  de- 
sired to  extend  to  them. 

That  serious  questions  touching  Church  order  and 
the  ministerial  commission  exist  is  a  fact  which  we 
may  not  ignore.  They  relate  to  a  subject  no  less  im- 
portant than  the  will  of  our  Lord  concerning  the  per- 
manent constitution  of  His  Church  ;  therefore  we  have 
no  right  to  ignore  them.  That  the  unity  of  Christen- 
dom can  ever  be  accomplished  without  a  settlement 
of  them  ought  not  to  be  expected.  The  greatest  and 
some  of  the  earliest  divisions  of  Christendom  were  oc- 
casioned by  questions  of  jurisdiction,  and  it  is  probable 
that  questions  of  a  like  sort  will  be  the  last  to  be  set- 
tled before  catholic  unity  can  be  restored. 

But  they  can  not  be  settled  now,  and  there  is  no 
good  reason  why  they  should  be  opened  on  the  very 
threshold  of  an  effort  to  promote  th?  spirit  of  unity. 
In  all  such  preliminary  approaches  v/e  must  be  con- 
tent to  recognize  each  other,  and  to  be  recognized 
by  each  other,  simply  as  Christian  men  and  as  bap- 
tized members  of  the  one  Body  of  Christ.  In  that 
capacity  it  never  can  be  wrong  to  join  our  forces  in 
defending  the  claims  of  our  Lord  and  Master  against 
any  adversaries.    To  maintain  His  cause  is  no  exclu- 


22 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY. 


sive  part  of  any  ministerial  prerogative.  In  the  whole 
world  there  is  not  one  single  Church  which  denies  the 
right  of  any  Christian,  whether  minister  or  layman,  to 
defend  the  name  and  cause  of  Jesus  Christ,  in  pubHc 
or  private,  against  the  assaults  of  enemies. 

I  have  said  before  that  it  is  ministers  who  have  been 
the  unhappy  originators  of  nearly  or  quite  every 
schism  which  has  vexed  the  peace  of  Christ's  Church  ; 
and  yet  nothing  seems  to  be  more  clear  than  that  it  is 
by  ministers  alone  that  our  existing  schisms  can  be 
removed.  They  will  begin  to  do  that  good  work,  I 
believe,  when  they  shall  be  found  ready  to  approach 
each  other  for  Christ's  sake,  and  in  the  love  of  Christ's 
people,  to  consider  the  things  that  make  for  peace ; 
postponing  for  the  moment  all  questions  of  prece- 
dence and  authority,  and  meeting  on  the  common  plat- 
form of  brethren  in  Christ. 

With  this  thought  I  approached  my  reverend 
brethren,  the  honored  pastors  of  six  of  the  largest  con- 
gregations in  this  city,  and  invited  them  to  deliver 
the  series  of  lectures  which  I  proposed. 

The  invitation  was  accepted  with  a  generous  readi- 
ness which  was  as  honorable  to  them  as  it  was  grati- 
fying to  me.  I  would  gladly  give  expression  to  my 
appreciation  of  their  Christian  nobleness,  but  I  for- 
bear. 

The  lectures  themselves  are  now,  in  compliance 
with  a  very  general  desire,  submitted  to  the  public. 


INTRODUCTORY  ESSAY.  23 

It  would  not  become  me  either  to  criticise  them  or  to 
praise  them  ;  but  I  may  not  improperly  take  leave  to 
say  that  the  effect  of  what  these  reverend  gentlemen 
did  was  fully  equal  to  the  effect  of  what  they  said. 
For  many  weeks  thousands  of  Christian  people  in  this 
city  had  their  minds  drawn  to  the  consideration  of 
unity  as  a  necessary  note  of  Christ's  Church  ;  and 
however  differently  they  may  have  thought  about  it, 
certain  it  is  that  all  were  led  to  hope  for  some  more 
worthy  exhibition  of  unity  in  Christ  than  the  world 
now  has.  Naturally,  too,  the  temper  of  Christian 
brotherliness  was  increased,  and  the  tone  of  Christian 
faith  among  our  people  was  notably  invigorated. 

Thus  our  feeble  effort  to  promote  the  spirit  of  truth, 
unity,  and  concord  "  among  the  followers  of  Christ  was 
manifestly  blessed  of  God,  and  with  all  our  hearts  we 
bless  God  that  it  has  been  so.  May  the  publication 
of  this  book  be  likewise  blessed  to  the  advancement 
of  His  glory,  by  the  maintenance  of  truth  and  by  the 
promotion  of  unity  among  His  children. 

John  Fulton. 

St.  George's  Church,  . 
Easter-Tide,  1885. 


I. 

THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 


S.  J.  NICCOLLS,  D.D. 


"  //  seemed  good  to  me  also,  having  had  perfect  understand- 
ing of  all  thijigs  from  the  very  first,  to  write  unto  thee,  in 
order,  most  excellent  Theophilus,  that  thou  mightest  know  the 
certainty  of  those  things  wherein  thou  hast  been  instructed." — 
Luke  i.  3,  4. 

"  But  these  are  written  that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is 
the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  believing,  ye  might  have 
life  through  His  na?ne" — John  xx.  31. 


I. 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 

No  argument  is  needed  to  prove  that  a  religion 
called  Christianity  now  exists  in  the  world,  and  has 
existed  for  eighteen  centuries.  That  its  adherents 
have  often  been  sadly  at  variance  among  themselves  ; 
that  it  has  at  times  been  corrupted  by  superstition, 
and  perverted  by  the  ignorance  or  unholy  passions 
of  men  ;  and  that  it  has  been  manifested  in  forms 
more  or  less  divergent  from  the  origmal  type,  are 
facts  which,  however  much  they  may  be  deplored, 
can  not  be  denied. 

But  it  still  remains  true  that  such  a  religion,  with 
its  peculiar,  distinctive,  and  essential  doctrines,  exists  ; 
and  that  its  origin  is  traceable  directly,  and  without 
any  reasonable  doubt,  to  the  appearance  in  history  of 
a  person  named  Jesus  Christ.  It  is  on  Him  that  Chris- 
tianity is  founded ;  He  is  the  Rock  upon  which  the 
Church  is  built  ;  to  Him  all  Christians  look  for  salva- 
tion and  eternal  life,  and  to  His  authority  and  guid- 
ance as  supreme  and  infallible,  they  submit  them- 
selves. 

(27) 


28 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 


This  religion,  from  the  very  first  until  now,  has 
made  the  highest  possible  claims  for  its  origin  and 
authority.  It  asserts  with  a  positiveness  which  ad- 
mits of  no  misconception,  not  only  that  it  is  from 
God,  but  that  it  is  the  only  religion  that  has  come  to 
man  with  the  divine  sanction,  and  that  as  the  true 
religion,  it  has  existed  from  the  beginning  of  human 
history. 

It  claims  to  teach  the  only  true  way  of  salvation, 
and  that  other  foundation  can  no  man  lay  than  that 
is  laid,  which  is  Jesus  Christ."  Its  adherents,  while 
they  are  ready  to  admit  that  there  are  great  truths 
taught  in  other  religions,  and  that  they  may  have 
served  important  ends  in  history,  claim  for  Christian- 
ity that  it  stands  alone,  unique,  and  sovereign,  like 
its  divine  founder — the  one  religion  given  by  God  to 
men,  in  which  is  revealed  what  we  are  to  believe  and 
do,  in  order  to  be  accepted  of  Him. 

It  is  very  evident,  in  view  of  these  high  claims, 
that  one  of  the  most  important  questions  that  can 
be  asked  concerning  Christianity  is  :  Does  it  come 
to  us  properly  authenticated  as  of  God  ?"  "  Is  it  of 
supernatural  or  divine  origin  ?  "  The  facts  and  argu- 
ments which  lead  to  a  moral  certainty  that  our  holy 
faith  is  indeed  of  God,  are  known  in  general  as  the 
evidences  of  Christianity. 

These  evidences  are  neither  few  nor  uncertain. 
Their  complete  statement  would  fill  volumes.  They 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY.  29 

are  to  be  gathered  in  abundance,  from  Scripture  and 
from  history,  from  miracles  and  prophecy  and  Chris- 
tian experience.  They  are  cumulative ;  instead  of 
diminishing  they  increase  as  time  goes  by.  They  are 
so  interlaced  and  locked  together,  that  they  mutually 
support  and  confirm  each  other,  and  unitedly  form  a 
body  of  testimony,  such  as  can  be  gathered  for  no 
other  fact  in  human  history. 

And  now,  that  it  is  proposed  to  speak  from  this 
pulpit  on  some  of  these  evidences,  it  must  not  be 
supposed  that  we,  as  Christian  ministers,  do  it  as 
though  we  were  defending  some  old  and  crumbling 
citadel,  which  needs  to  have  its  decrepit  walls  but- 
tressed anew.  On  the  contrary,  so  confident  are  we 
of  the  stability  of  our  holy  faith,  that  we  are  sure 
that  the  very  "  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
it and  we  challenge  the  fullest  investigation  of  the 
evidences  that  sustain  its  claims.  Our  chief  desire 
is,  in  humble  imitation  of  the  Evangelists  themselves, 
to  present  to  you  some  things  from  which  you  may 
know  the  certainty  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ ;  and  fur- 
thermore, that  ye  might  believe  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  and  that  believing,  ye  might 
have  life  through  His  name." 

From  these  evidences  I  have  selected  for  our  con- 
sideration, that  which  is  known  as  the  apostolic  testi- 
mony, or  in  other  words,  that  which  is  recorded  in 
the  New  Testament.  That  the  testimony  of  the  apos- 


30  THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 

ties  included  some  things  which  are  not  recorded  in 
the  Gospels  or  Epistles,  can  easily  be  inferred  from 
the  words  of  St.  John  (xxi.  25).  But  the  Church  in 
all  ages  has  claimed  that  the  genuine  apostolic  state- 
ment of  her  faith  concerning  Jesus  Christ,  was  con- 
tained in  the  books  of  the  New  Testament.  That 
which  the  apostles  taught  and  testified  concerning 
Him,  is  accurately  and  sufficiently  recorded  in  them. 
Here,  then,  we  have  certain  books  presented  as  testi- 
mony concerning  the  origin  of  Christianity,  which 
purport  to  have  been  written  in  the  very  age  in  which 
Christ  lived. 

The  first  question  which  naturally  presents  Jtself 
with  reference  to  them  is:  "Are  they  genuine?" 
That  is,  were  they  written  as  they  claim  to  be,  by  the 
apostles,  or  their  companions  ?  These  books  exist, 
and  the  question  we  are  now  to  consider  is,  not 
whether  they  are  inspired  or  infallible,  but  simply 
this  :  "  Are  they  genuine  documents  from  the  apos- 
tolic times?"  The  proof  that  they  are,  is  so  abun- 
dant that  it  can  be  stated  now,  only  in  outline. 

As  to  the  antiquity  of  these  books,  there  never  has 
been  any  question.  It  is  admitted  on  all  sides,  that 
the}^  were  in  existence  during  the  middle  and  latter 
part  of  the  second  century,  that  is,  at  a  time  not  as 
far  removed  from  the  days  in  which  the  apostles 
lived,  as  we  are  from  the  time  of  the  American  Revo- 
lution.  The  incontestable  proof  of  this  is,  that  many 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY.  31 

writers  of  that  period — over  thirty  in  number — in 
various  ways  refer  to  these  books,  or  quote  from 
them.  They  were  not  only  appealed  to  and  quoted 
by  Christian  writers,  but  also  by  heretics  and  the 
heathen  opponents  of  Christianity.  At  that  time, 
also,  they  were  regarded  as  of  the  highest  authority 
with  reference  to  the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

Irenaeus,  Bishop  of  Lyons,  who  was  born  not  more 
than  twenty  years  after  the  death  of  the  Apostle 
John,  and  who  wrote  during  the  latter  part  of  the 
second  century,  writes  thus  :  There  is  such  assur- 
ance concerning  the  Gospels,  that  the  heretics  them- 
selves bear  testimony  to  them,  and  every  one  of  them 
endeavors  to  prove  his  doctrine  from  them." 

This  statement  has  special  significance  when  we  re- 
call the  fact,  that  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  second 
century,  these  books  were  used  to  check  and  condemn 
growing  errors  and  heresies  in  the  Church.  But  while 
the  heretics  in  their  own  interests,  sought  to  corrupt 
the  Gospels,  or  give  them  false  interpretations,  and 
even  forged  books  in  the  name  of  the  apostles,  they 
never  disputed  their  genuineness.  It  would  have 
been  an  immense  gain  to  their  position  to  have  done 
so,  but  that  they  did  not,  shows  conclusively  that 
they  had  no  warrant  to  question  it. 

Surely,  it  is  in  the  range  of  the  most  ordinary  un- 
derstanding to  see,  thaj:  it  would  have  been  a  moral 


32  THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 

impossibility  to  have  secured  at  that  time,  for  certain 
new-made  books  forged  in  the  name  of  the  apostles, 
immediate  and  universal  recognition  as  of  supreme 
authority,  not  only  from  the  Church,  but  also  from 
errorists  and  heretics,  when  it  was  to  the  interests  of 
the  latter  to  reject  them.  The  only  fair,  rational 
conclusion  is,  that  they  had  come  down  to  them 
from  a  former  period.  And  this  is  supported  by 
further  incontestable  testimony.  Clement,  Mathetes, 
Ignatius,  Polycarp,  the  author  of  the  epistle  of  Bar- 
nabas, Papias,  and  Justin  Martyr,  were  Christian  fa- 
thers who  lived  and  wrote  between  the  years  30-165. 
Some  of  them  were  companions  and  colaborers  with 
the  apostles.  One  of  them,  Justin  Martyr,  who  died 
A.D.  165,  was  a  voluminous  writer  in  defence  of  the 
Christian  faith.  All  these  in  various  ways,  give  their 
testimony  to  the  existence  of  some  of  the  Gospels  or 
Epistles,  principally  by  quoting  from  them. 

Thus,  as  distinctly  as  we  can  trace  the  current  of 
the  Mississippi  from  its  outflow  into  the  Gulf,  back 
to  its  source  among  the  mountains  and  lakes  of  the 
North,  so  can  we  trace  these  documents,  which  have 
come  down  to  us  with  their  wealth  of  blessing,  back 
to  apostolic  times.  Indeed,  among  all  the  mass  of 
evidence  presented  by  the  writings  of  believers,  her- 
etics, and  heathen  opposers,  from  the  days  of  the 
apostles  to  the  fourth  century,  there  is  not  a  single 
doubt  expressed  as  to  the  apostolic  origin  of  our 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 


Gospels,  though  a  few  errorists  denied  in  part  the 
authority  of  one  of  them.  All  this  testimony  agrees 
precisely,  with  what  we  find  in  the  documents  them- 
selves. In  a  most  striking  manner,  they  furnish  the 
evidence  of  their  own  origin. 

The  writers  in  most  cases  give  their  names,  or  as- 
sert that  they  gave  their  accounts  as  related  by  eye- 
witnesses. Why  should  we  not  believe  them  in  this  ? 
We  do  so  in  other  cases  without  doubt.  We  do  not 
hesitate  to  believe  that  Herodotus  wrote  his  history, 
and  Xenophon  the  Anabasis,  Josephus  his  history  of 
the  Jews,  or  Horace  the  odes  ascribed  to  him,  yet 
the  evidence  that  John  wrote  the  fourth  Gospel,  and 
Paul  the  Epistles  to  the  Corinthians  and  Galatians, 
and  Matthew  his  Gospel,  is  tenfold  stronger. 

The  account  which  these  books  give  of  their  origin 
is  certainly  credible.  Jesus  Christ  Himself  wrote  no 
books.  He  was  the  great  Subject,  not  the  Author, 
of  Holy  Scripture.  The  Scriptures,  Old  and  New, 
were  made  to  testify  of  Him.  His  disciples,  taught 
orally  by  Him,  were  called  primarily,  not  to  write 
books,  but  to  preach  in  His  name  ;  that  is,  to  bear 
witness  for  Him  by  word  of  mouth.  But  as  the 
Church  grew,  and  imperfectly  instructed  men  began 
to  teach,  and  misconceptions  and  errors  multiplied, 
there  arose  the  necessity  that  the  apostolic  testimony 
should  be  placed  in  some  permanent,  written  form. 

It  was  to  meet  this  necessity  that  these  books  were 

2* 


34  THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 

written.  They  all  bear  certain  marks  of  that  age,  not 
only  in  the  language  in  which  they  were  written,  but 
also  in  their  constant,  natural,  and  accurate  allusions 
to  places,  names,  events,  and  conditions  of  society. 
Take  Paul's  letters  to  the  Galatian  churches,  troubled 
with  Judaizing  teachers,  or  to  the  Corinthians,  just 
emerging  from  heathenism,  or  the  book  of  Acts  as  a 
journey  of  travel,  with  its  life-like  pictures — and  he 
who  examines  them  carefully  will  not  shrink  from  the 
conclusion,  that  it  would  have  been  a  literary  impos- 
sibility to  have  written  these  books  after  the  events 
of  which  they  speak  had  long  passed  away.  Their 
forgery  under  such  circumstances,  would  have  been 
more  wonderful  than  anything  contained  in  them. 

Such  testimony  as  this  ought  to  be  conclusive  as 
to  the  genuineness  of  these  books,  unless  it  can  be 
set  aside  by  new  facts.  We  believe  on  the  testimony 
of  those  who  preceded  us,  that  a  certain  document, 
called  the  "■  Farewell  Address,"  was  written  by  Wash- 
ington. This  has  been  the  accepted  and  unquestioned 
belief  of  "the  period  between  his  day  and  our  own. 
Nor  can  it  be  questioned  that  the  men  of  that  period 
are  as  competent  witnesses  in  this  matter,  as  any  who 
may  come  after  them.  Suppose,  however,  that  some 
critic  or  unbeliever  in  the  address  should  arise  among 
us,  and  show  by  cunning  and  plausible  argument, 
drawn  from  the  structure  of  the  address  alone,  that 
it  could  not  have  been  written  until  at  least  fifty 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY.  35 

years  after  the  death  of  Washington  ;  and  that  its 
existence  was  to  be  accounted  for  by  the  growing 
attachment  of  the  people  for  Washington  ;  and  that 
they  had  gradually  brought  themselves  to  believe  that 
this  was  the  way  in  which  the  Father  of  his  country 
addressed  his  fellow-citizens — could  this  conclusion 
be  accepted  in  the  face  of  the  facts  that  men  of 
Washington's  day  have  declared  that  they  had  read 
that  address,  and  have  quoted  from  it,  and  their  quo- 
tations correspond  with  what  we  now  find  in  it  ? 

The  only  thing  that  could  justify  the  overthrow  of 
the  common  belief,  would  be  the  presentation  of  some 
new  historical  facts,  which  would  show  conclusively 
that  Washington  was  not  the  author  of  the  Farewell 
Address.  Facts  can  not  be  set  aside  by  arguments,, 
inferences,  or  theories,  however  plausible.  Such,  and 
even  stronger,  is  the  case  with  reference  to  these 
apostolic  documents. 

All  who  have  written  with  reference  to  them,  both 
friend  and  foe,  in  the  times  immediately  succeeding 
the  apostles,  attribute  with  perfect  unanimity  their 
authorship  to  the  apostles.  Such  was  the  universal 
belief  of  the  Church  at  that  time.  This  belief  can  be 
set  aside  only  through  the  production  of  some  new 
facts  to  the  contrary  ;  and  not  a  solitary  one  has 
been  produced,  though  the  history  of  those  early 
days  has  been  searched  as  with  a  microscope. 

It  has  been  reserved  for  modern  times  to  set  up 


36  THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY.  ' 

the  preposterous  claim  that  these  books  are  a  cun- 
ning forgery,  a  notion  so  absurd  that  it  has  long  since 
been  abandoned  in  all  intelligent  quarters  of  infidel- 
ity. This  notion  survives  only  among  the  ignorant, 
the  misinformed,  and  those  who  through  bitter  hatred 
and  prejudice  are  incapable  of  reaching  a  rational 
conclusion  in  this  matter.  Infidel  scholarship  has 
long  ago  renounced  it  for  the  more  plausible,  myth- 
ical theory. 

Men  like  Baur,  of  Tubingen,  the  giant  leader  of  the 
Rationalistic  school,  claimed  that  the  Gospels  were  a 
collection  of  myths  and  legends,  which  in  course  of 
time  gathered  around  the  story  of  Jesus  Christ,  and 
were  put  in  form  during  the  second  or  third  century. 
It  was  only  another  case  of  theory  against  facts.  It 
was  against  the  positive  statement  of  the  books  them- 
selves, against  the  testimony  of  the  early  Church,  and 
against  the  intelligent,  moral  convictions  of  men. 
Legend,  myth,  and  idle  story  building  up  a  religion 
that  has  revolutionized  the  world,  and  changed  the 
hearts  and  lives  of  millions  from  sin  to  righteousness ! 
Legend,  myth,  and  idle  story  gradually  forming  that 
marvellous  presentation  of  the  Christ,  in  which  the 
enlightened  centuries  have  found  their  highest  and 
holiest  conceptions  of  God,  and  duty  and  character ! 
No  wonder  that  the  theory  soon  broke  down,  and  its 
own  defenders  were  compelled  to  modify  it. 

Let  us  now  go  a  step  farther.    These  books  exist, 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY.  37 

and  we  have  seen  that  in  all  probability  they  belong 
to  the  apostolic  age.  At  least  we  are  justified  in  re- 
ceiving them  as  testimony  from  that  age,  to  the  ori- 
gin of  Christianity.  Such  as  it  is,  it  is  here  for  our 
examination.  Nor  can  there  be  any  doubt  as  to  its 
purport.  "  These  are  written  that  ye  might  believe 
that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God."  What, 
then,  is  the  nature  of  this  testimony,  and  what  is  it 
worth  ? 

I.  We  read  these  books  and,  first  of  all,  we  are  im- 
pressed with  the  fact  that  the  writers  are  sincere. 
Evidently  they  speak  with  the  accent  of  conviction. 
Take,  for  example,  the  writings  of  Paul.  No  one  in 
ancient  or  modern  times,  has  ever  doubted  the  au- 
thenticity of  at  least  four  of  his  Epistles.  Baur,  the 
famous  leader  of  the  Rationalistic  school,  says,  with 
reference  to  the  Epistle  to  the  Galatians,  the  two 
Epistles  to  the  Corinthians,  and  the  Epistle  to  the 
Romans  :  There  never  has  been  the  slightest  sus- 
picion of  authenticity  cast  on  these  four  Epistles. 
JOn  the  contrary,  they  bear  in  themselves  so  incon- 
testably  the  character  of  Pauline  originality,  that  it  is 
not  possible  for  critical  doubt  to  be  exercised  upon 
them  with  any  show  of  reason."  Renan  pronounces 
these  Epistles  "  unquestionable  and  unquestioned  " 
as  to  their  genuineness. 

Paul,  in  these  letters,  testifies  to  the  main  and 
essential  facts  of  the  Gospel ;  that  the  Eternal  Son 


'  38  THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 

of  God  was  manifested  in  the  flesh,  took  to  Himself 
a  true  human  nature,  Hved  among  men,  was  crucified, 
.  and  died  for  the  sins  of  men  on  the  cross,  rose  again 
from  the  dead,  was  seen  by  His  disciples  after  His 
resurrection,  and  by  five  hundred  of  them  at  one  time, 
and  afterward  ascended  to  heaven  to  reign  as  Lord 
over  all,  and  the  only  Saviour  of  men.  In  this  he 
agrees  with  all  the  testimony  of  all  the  apostles. 
Undoubtedly,  Paul  was  sincere  in  what  he  taught. 
When  he  says,  "  now  the  things  which  I  write  unto 
you,  behold  before  God  I  lie  not," — we  can  not  think 
that  he  is  deliberately  perjuring  himself. 

He  uttered  his  testimony  in  spite  of  loss,  persecu- 
tion, and  reproach  ;  he  sealed  it  by  a  martyr's  death. 
We  can  not  imagine  why  he,  or  any  of  those  witnesses, 
should  have  said  what  they  did,  unless  they  believed 
it  to  be  true.  If  those  men  were  not  sincere,  then  we 
can  not  believe  any  man  to  be  sincere.  Hypocrisy 
and  deceit  are  the  only  realities.  Nor,  again,  can  we 
believe  that  they  are  dupes,  or  fanatics  inspired  by 
delusions.  They  do  not  speak  or  act  like  it.  Could 
delusions  and  frauds  earnestly  believed,  have  made 
them  what  they  are,  the  noblest  characters  and  oar 
foremost  teachers  of  the  truth  among  men  ?  When 
Paul  declared  in  manifest  sincerity,  "  The  life  which 
I  now  live  in  the  flesh,  I  live  by  the  faith  of  the  Son 
of  God,  who  loved  me  and  gave  Himself  for  me,"  are 
we  to  understand  that  a  delusion  honestly  believed. 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY.  39 

was  the  secret  of  that  marvellous  life  of  his  ?  Un- 
questionably it  was  the  sincerity  of  the  apostles  that 
led  them  to  proclaim  their  Gospel  to  others,  and  so 
multitudes  believed.  Must  we,  then,  conclude  that 
Christianity  itself,  the  grandest  movement  in  history, 
has  for  its  origin  and  inspiration  nothing  more  sub- 
stantial than  a  delusion  firmly*  believed  ?  This  is 
asking  us  to  receive  as  true,  what  our  moral  sense  as 
well  as  experience  contradicts,  that  a  lie,  held  in  sin- 
cerity, has  done  more  to  bless  the  world,  and  has  pro- 
duced nobler  . and  holier  men  and  women,  than  the 
truth  ! 

On  the  supposition  that  all  which  the  apostles 
wrote  and  testified  is  true,  we  can  easily  account  for 
what  we  see  in  their  lives,  and  in  the  triumphs  of  the 
Church  ;  but  on  no  other  ground.  The  only  key  that 
fits  the  lock  must  be  the  true  one. 

2.  There  is  a  second  feature  in  this  testimony,  that 
arrests  our  attention.  It  is  the  unquestioned,  unri- 
valled superiority  of  the  moral  teaching  of  these 
books.  There  is  nothing  like  it  to  be  found  in  the 
whole  range  of  human  literature.  It  is  as  far  above 
that  which  is  taught  in  the  sacred  books  of  other  re- 
ligions, in  clearness  and  range,  as  sunlight  is  to  can- 
dle light.  To  all  the  ethical  teachings  of  the  New 
Testament  we  must  respond  in  our  deepest  hearts,  as 
did  a  certain  scribe  to  Jesus  :  "  Well,  Master,  Thou 
hast  said  the  truth."    We  know  what  the  Rabbins, 


40  THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 

students  of  the  ancient  Scriptures,  have  written  ;  and 
what  the  loftiest  intellects  of  the  race,  such  as  Plato, 
and  Seneca,  and  Confucius,  and  Marcus  Aurelius 
have  taught  in  morals.  How  does  it  come  that  these 
plain,  humble  men  from  despised  Galilee  have  taught 
a  morality  that  stands  absolutely  peerless  in  its  per- 
fection ?  It  is  simply  impossible  to  account  for  this 
immense  difference  on  natural  grounds. 

3.  Another,  and  the  crowning  feature  of  this  testi- 
mony, is  the  statement  it  makes  concerning  Jesus 
Christ.  There  rises  up  from  the  pages  of  the  Gospels 
a  face  of  such  matchless  beauty,  that  no  artist  has 
ever  been  able  to  paint  it  true  to  life.  There  is  pre- 
sented in  them  the  picture  of  a  Person  living  among 
men,  tenderly  and  perfectly  human,  yet  manifest- 
ing such  glorious  and  divine  qualities,  that  He  has 
never  ceased  to  draw  increasing  millions  in  adoring 
homage  to  Himself.  And  this  presentation  is  no 
ideal  conception  ;  no  cunning  work  of  the  imagina- 
tion of  the  writers.  That  four  different  works  of 
pure  fiction,  each  by  a  different  writer,  and  each 
marked  by  the  personality  of  its  author,  shall  agree 
in  presenting  one  sinless,  original,  perfect  character, 
moving  in  life-like  and  natural  action  in  human  affairs 
for  thirty  years,  and  in  the  most  difficult  circum- 
stances, is  not  to  be  thought  of.  The  mightiest 
geniuses  since  then,  with  this  wonderful  original 
before  them,  have  not  been  able  to  invent  a  like 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY.  41 

perfect  character.  This  stands  alone,  unique,  with- 
out a  parallel  among  men.  It  is  so  original  and 
distinct  and  life-like,  that  it  has  impressed  even  the  ^ 
most  sceptical  as  a  reality.  You  will  not  accuse  me 
of  taking  a  partial  witness  on  this  point  in  John  Stu- 
art Mill. 

He  says  :  "  Whatever  else  may  be  taken  away  from 
us  by  rational  criticism,  Christ  is  still  left,  a  unique 
figure,  not  more  unlike  all  his  precursors  than  all  his 
followers,  even  those  who  had  the  direct  benefit  of 
his  personal  teaching.  It  is  of  no  use  to  say  that 
Christ,  as  exhibited  in  the  Gospel,  is  not  historical, 
and  that  we  do  not  know  how  much  of  what  is  ad- 
mirable had  been  superadded  by  the  tradition  of  his 

followers  Who  among  his  followers  or  among 

their  proselytes  was  capable  of  inventing  the  sayings 
ascribed  to  Jesus,  or  of  imagining  the  life  and  charac- 
ter revealed  in  the  Gospels  ?  Certainly  not  the  fisher- 
men of  Galilee  ;  as  certainly  not  St.  Paul,  whose  char- 
acter and  idiosyncrasies  were  of  a  totally  different 
sort ;  still  less  the  early  Christian  writers,  in  whom 
nothing  is  more  evident  than  that  the  good  which 
was  in  them  was  all  derived,  as  they  always  professed 
that  it  was  derived,  from  the  higher  source." 

It  would  be  easy  to  gather  abundance  of  testimony 
like  to  this,  not  simply  from  the  believing  and  ador- 
ing Church,  but  also  from  the  recognized  leaders  of 
scepticism  through  the  centuries.    But  it  can-  be 


42  THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 


asserted,  without  fear  of  contradiction,  that  the 
matchless  and  sinless  personality  of  Jesus  Christ  is 
^  a  historic  reality.  There  He  stands,  dividing  the  ages 
with  His  glorious  appearing  among  men.  He  is 
lifted  up  before  us  in  these  Gospels,  challenging  the 
attention  of  all  by  His  claims.  He  is  a  fact,  and  how 
shall  we  account  for  it  ?  Is  He  simply  the  product 
of  corrupt,  erring,  weak  humanity,  or  has  He  come, 
as  He  said,  from  the  very  bosom  of  the  Eternal 
Father  ?  Can  an  unclean  thing  bring  forth  the 
clean ;  a  bitter  fountain  send  forth  sweet  waters ; 
our  sinful  humanity  beget  the  Christ  ? 

4.  Another  feature  in  these  books  is  the  striking 
difference,  observable  to  every  one  who  makes  the 
examination,  between  them  and  all  other  written 
accounts  of  Jesus  Christ.  They  stand  alone,  and  can 
no  more  be  classified  with  others,  than  diamonds  with 
common  stones.  There  are  still  extant,  books  from 
the  first  and  second  and  third  centuries,  written  by 
Christians,  and  professing  to  give  an  account  of  the  life 
and  sayings  of  our  Lord  ;  but  the  distinction  between 
them  and  our  Gospels  is  as  manifest  as  that  between 
Mother  Goose's  melodies  and  the  writings  of  Milton 
or  Shakespeare.  Read  the  whole  Christian  literature 
of  the  early  centuries,  and  then  turn  to  the  New  Tes- 
tament. The  transition  is  like  passing  from  darkness 
and  confusion,  into  light  and  order.  There  have 
been  countless  lives  of  Christ  written  since  then,  but 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY.  43 

what  one  of  them  can  be  placed  alongside  of  the  mar- 
vellous originals?  On  what  natural  grounds  can  we 
account  for  this  singular  separation  ?  The  explana- 
tion of  divine  guidance  for  the  af)ostolic  writers,  is  the 
only  rational  and  sufficient  solution. 

It  could  also  be  readily  shown  how  this  apostohc 
testimony  is  confirmed  by  prophecy,  and  by  the  work 
of  the  Holy  Spirit.  But,  surely,  enough  has  been 
said  to  show  that  we  are  not  without  a  reasonable 
warrant  for  the  divine  origin  of  our  holy  faith  ;  a  war- 
rant that  far  surpasses  in  reasonableness  and  force, 
that  which  can  be  furnished  in  behalf  of  any  other. 
A  religion  that  comes  to  men  thus  authenticated, 
certainly  demands  their  reverent,  serious,  and  honest 
consideration.  I  do  not  claim  for  this  statement,  the 
force  of  a  demonstration  that  Christianity  is  divine, 
but  only  this :  That  a  fair,  candid  consideration  of 
the  testimony  will  lead  to  such  moral  certainty  as 
will  both  justify  a  man  in  seeking  his  salvation  in 
Jesus  Christ  alone,  and  make  it  his  duty  to  do  so. 
As  Christian  teachers,  we  are  not  so  foolish  as  to  sup- 
pose that  saving  faith  is  created  by  argument.  It 
comes  alone  from  looking  at  its  object,  Jesus  Christ, 
as  presented  in  the  Gospel.  Millions  who  know  noth- 
ing of  the  external  evidences  of  Christianity,  have  a 
most  certain  persuasion  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the 
Son  of  God,  because  they  have  looked  directly  to 
Him  in  simple  faith,  and  found  in  Him  eternal  life. 


44  THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 

No  argument,  not  even  death  itself,  can  shake  this 
conviction.  Oiit  of  the  deep,  clear  consciousness  of 
a  new  life  in  Christ,  they  say  with  Paul,  "  I  know 
whom  I  have  believed,  and  am  persuaded  that  He  is 
able  to  keep  that  which  I  have  committed  unto  Him 
against  that  day." 

There  is,  after  all,  but  one  way  by  which  we  can 
arrive  at  certainty  in  the  Christian  faith,  and  that  is 
not  by  argument.  It  is  the  old  way  of  which  the 
Psalmist  testifies  :  Oh,  taste,  and  see  that  the  Lord 
is  good."  It  is  the  way  our  Lord  points  out  when 
He  said :  My  doctrine  is  not  mine,  but  His  that 
sent  me.  If  any  man  will  do  His  will  he  shall  know 
of  the  doctrine  whether  it  be  of  God."  St.  John 
writes  :  He  that  believeth  on  the  Son  of  God,  hath 
the  witness  in  himself." 

Happy  are  they  who  have  found  their  way  into 
life  by  this  simple,  direct  road,  which  is  open  to  all. 
Let  no  man  despise  that  traditional,  inherited  faith 
which  has  led  so  many  to  look  reverentially  toward 
Jesus  Christ  ;  and  in  seeing  Him,  they  believed  with 
a  new  and  higher  faith.  But  when  true  faith  is 
eclipsed,  or  traditional  faith  shaken,  the  argument 
from  the  evidences  of  Christianity  has  its  uses.  Fur- 
thermore, the  argument  to  be  conclusive  as  to  duty, 
need  not  be  a  demonstration  of  the  divinity  of  our 
faith.  It  is  enough  if  it  can  show  in  the  highest  de- 
gree of  probability,  that  it  is  of  God.    All  we  design 


THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 


45 


by  it^  is  to  turn  your  attention  with  good  reason  to 
Jesus  Christ,  and  in  Him  alone  can  you  find  rest. 

Suppose  that  it  is  greatly  to  your  advantage  to  go 
to  England,  and  you  wish  to  go  safely.  At  the  sea- 
shore you  find  various  sea-going  crafts,  from  the  little 
"  dory  "  to  the  Cunard  steamer.  The  latter,  from  all 
you  hear,  is  the  best.  You  examine  it,  and  every- 
thing about  its  appointments,  commends  it  to  you. 
It  has  not  its  equal  afloat.  You  ask  about  its  secur- 
ity, and  are  informed  that  since  its  organization  that 
Line  has  never  lost  a  vessel,  or  a  passenger  at  sea.  But 
you  ask  the  chief  officer,  "  Is  there  not  a  possibility 
that  the  vessel  might  be  lost  on  this  voyage  ?  Can 
you  show  me,  beyond  all  doubt,  that  you  can  take 
me  safely  over  ?  "  As  an  honest  man  he  says,  "  No." 
And  if  you  will  not  venture  until  this  doubt  is  re- 
moved, there  is  nothing  left  for  you  but  to  stay  at 
home,  or  venture  to  sea  in  some  vessel  of  your  own 
contrivance. 

But  what  opinion  must  reasonable,  fair-minded  men 
have  of  your  position  ?  So  here,  we  have  shown  you 
that  as  far  as  a  safe  entrance  into  the  eternal  world  is 
concerned,  there  is  nothing  that  so  commends  itself 
to  sinful  men,  as  the  religion  that  has  Jesus  Christ  for 
its  founder.  It  comes  to  us  with  marks  of  its  divine 
origin,  so  clear  and  transcendent  in  glory,  that  there 
is  nothing  else  to  be  compared  to  it.  It  is  admitted 
on  every  side,  to  be  superior  to  all  others.  The 
probabilities,  at  least,  are  all  in  its  favor.    Why  not 


46  THE  APOSTOLIC  TESTIMONY. 

then,  act  with  reference  to  it  as  you  do  toward  other 
important  affairs  in  Hfe  ?  As  you  would  commit  your 
bodily  life  to  the  vessel  that  was  most  highly  recom- 
mended to  you,  to  cross  the  sea,  and  not  to  an  inferior 
one,  so  commit  your  soul-life  to  this  faith  in  which 
millions  have  lived  in  peace,  and  died  in  holy  triumph. 
Come  honestly  to  the  divine  Redeemer,  and  you  will 
soon  have  that  deeper  and  higher  experience  which 
will  enable  you  to  say,  "  I  know." 

"  Oh,  make  but  trial  of  His  love, 
Experience  will  decide 
How  blest  are  they,  and  only  they. 
Who  in  His  truth  confide." 

As  for  myself,  I  can  testify  that  when  I  look  into 
the  apostolic  testimony,  seeking  to  find  Him  of  whom 
the  apostles  bear  witness,  I  see  its  pages  beaming 
with  a  light  such  as  I  find  in  no  other  book — a  light 
that  reveals  me  to  myself,  humbles  me,  condemns 
me,  yet  opens  to  me  a  new  world  abounding  in  hope 
and  mercy.  I  hear  from  it  a  voice,  as  of  Eternal 
Truth,  speaking  in  accents  of  tenderest  love.  I  look, 
and  see  a  Person — a  man  crowned  with  thorns  and 
dying  on  a  cross,  yet  more  than  a  man  !  He  is  One 
whose  every  look  and  word  and  deed  proclaim  His 
eternal  and  uncreated  origin  in  the  bosom  of  the 
Father ;  and  in  His  presence,  as  all  doubt  vanishes, 
I  can  cry,  with  a  joyful  certainty  such  as  no  argument 
ever  brought  me,    3Ty  Lord  and  7ny  God'' 


11, 


THE  ARGUMENT   FROM  THE 
RESURRECTION. 


W.  W.  BOYD,  D.D. 


\ 


II. 


THE  ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESUR- 
RECTION. 

Dearly  Beloved  :  The  Rector  of  St.  George's 
church,  in  a  most  fraternal  Christian  spirit,  has  asked 
of  me  "  a  reason  concerning  the  hope  that  is  in  me," 
the  ground  upon  which  I  believe  in  Jesus  as  the 
Christ.  I  deem  it  a  grateful  privilege  in  this  pres- 
ence to  declare,  "  with  meekness  and  fear  and  a  good 
conscience,"  that  I  believe  in  Jesus  as  the  Christ,  and 
have  committed  myself  to  Him  in  confidence  for  time 
and  to  eternity,  because  He  died  for  my  sins  and  rose 
again  for  my  justification.  Is  my  hope  built  upon  a 
sure  foundation  ?  It  will  be  my  aim  to  show  that  it 
is,  by  dwelling  chiefly  upon  two  points  : 

I.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  an  historic  fact. 
II.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  as  an  historic  fact  is 
a  firm  basis  of  personal  faith  in  Him. 

I.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  is -an  historic  fact. 

By  an  historic  fact  I  mean  that  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus  is  an  event  that  actually  took  place.  It  is  not  a 
doctrine,  an  opinion,  a  philosophical  or  theological  no- 
3  (49) 


50    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

tion  ;  it  is  an  event,  an  actual  occurrence,  a  fact.  Then 
it  must  stand  the  test  of  historical  criticism.  It  must 
be  established  by  a  reasonable  amount  of  evidence, 
which  is  clear,  honest,  and  identical  with  what  the  stu- 
dent of  history  demands  in  all  other  questions  of  an 
historical  kind.  Dogmatism  here  is  impossible.  The 
scientific  method  alone  is  the  true  one.  As  the  stu- 
dent of  natural  science  must  deduce  the  laws  of  na- 
ture from  well-established  facts  repeatedly  tested  in 
the  laboratory  of  experiment,  so  the  student  of  his- 
tory must  examine  and  re-examine,  by  the  established 
canons  of  evidence,  the  witnesses  upon  whose  testi- 
mony any  event  is  presented  for  acceptance  before 
he  can  make  an  authoritative  utterance  as  to\  its 
reality.  Precisely,  then,  as  we  would  prove  the  real- 
ity of  any  other  historical  event — as,  for  example,  that 
Brutus  slew  Caesar  in  the  Senate  at  Rome — the  fact 
of  Jesus'  resurrection  must  be  submitted  to  the  laws 
of  scientific  historical  criticism,  and  must  stand  this 
crucial  test  before  reason  can  assent  to  its  truthful- 
ness. God  asks  no  one,  neither  should  His  ministers, 
to  believe  any  fact  of  revelation  without  reasonable 
evidence  of  its  truth. 

Before  proceeding  to  apply  the  scientific  method 
to  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus,  allow  me  to 
say,  that  the  admirable  and  comprehensive  lecture  of 
Dr.  NiccoUs  upon  "  The  Apostolic  Testimony,"  ren- 
ders it  unnecessary  for  me  to  review  the  grounds 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.    5 1 

upon  which  the  authenticity  of  the  books  of  the 
New  Testament  rests.  With  your  permission  I  shall, 
therefore,  assume  much  of  that  which  he  so  ably 
proved  and  allude  to  the  authenticity  of  the  writ- 
ings from  which  I  quote,  only  when  it  is  essential 
to  the  development  of  my  argument.  In  a  spirit 
of  candor,  then,  let  us  proceed  to  submit  the  fact  of 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  to  the  test  of  historical  criti- 
cism. 

I.  Certain  facts  are  universally  conceded.  These 
facts  are  that  a  man  named  Jesus  Christ  was  born  in 
Judea  in  the  reign  of  Herod,  the  Tetrarch,  and  was 
crucified  under  Pontius  Pilate  ;  that  He  was  a  person 
of  marvellous  endowments,  of  spotless  character,  and 
of  wonderful  power  as  an  ethical  teacher ;  that  He 
drew  about  Him  a  band  of  disciples,  twelve  of  whom 
were  called  apostles  ;  that  after  His  crucifixion  nu- 
merous local  assemblies  of  His  disciples  were  formed  ; 
that  within  a  few  years  of  His  death  there  existed 
throughout  the  then  known  world  these  churches,  of 
which  there  has  been  a  continuous  succession  from 
the  time  of  the  apostles  until  now.  These  are  undis- 
puted facts,  established  from  the  writings  of  the  Jew- 
ish historian,  Josephus,  the  Roman  Tacitus  and  Pliny, 
and  the  Christian  Paul  of  whose  four  Epistles — First 
and  Second  Corinthians,  Romans  and  Galatians — the 
sceptic  Renan  writes  :  "  Not  the  slightest  doubt  has 
been  raised  by  serious  criticism  against  their  authen- 


5  2    ARG  UMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

ticity."*  In  these  Epistles  Paul  declares  that  Jesus 
rose  from  the  dead,  and,  in  the  fifteenth  chapter  of 
the  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  he  bases  an  ex- 
haustive argument  for  the  resurrection  of  the  dead 
upon  the  fact  of  Christ's  resurrection.  Bear  in  mind 
that,  as  Godet  says  :  "  The  authenticity  of  this  Epis- 
tle has  never  in  any  age  been  disputed  by  any  one, 
neither  is  it  disputed  in  our  own  day  by  any  person 
whatever.  All  agree  it  was  written  at  Ephesus  about 
58  A.D.,  twenty-five  years  after  the  death  of  Jesus."  f 
It  is  most  fortunate  that  we  have  this  substantial 
foundation  of  undisputed  facts,  upon  which  all  may 
stand  in  perfect  confidence.  We  hear  an  authentic 
voice  sounding  out  down  the  centuries  its  calm,  as- 
suring testimony  concerning  the  fact  of  the  resur- 
rection. 

2.  Listen  to  this  testimony  and  examine  the  wit- 
ness. The  testimony  is  given  in  epitome  in  i  Cor- 
inthians XV.  3-9  :  For  I  delivered  unto  you  first  of 
all  that  wdiich  also  I  received,  how  that  Christ  died 
for  our  sins,  according  to  the  Scriptures  :  and  that 
He  was  buried,  and  that  He  hath  been  raised  on  the 
third  day,  according  to  the  Scriptures  ;  and  that  He 
appeared  to  Cephas  ;  then  to  -the  twelve  ;  then  He 
appeared  to  above  five  hundred  brethren  at  once,  of 


*  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  p.  35. 

t  "  Defence  of  the  Christian  Faith." 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  53 

whom  the  greater  part  remain  until  now,  but  some 
are  fallen  asleep  ;  then  He  appeared  to  James  ;  then 
to  all  the  apostles,  and  last  of  all,  as  unto  one  born 
out  of  due  time.  He  appeared  to  me  also.  For  I  am 
the  least  of  the  apostles,  because  I  persecuted  the 
Church  of  God."    This  is  the  testimony. 

Examine  the  witness — Paul.  He  was  a  Jewish  con- 
vert to  Christianity.  Born  in  Tarsus,  he  inherited 
from  his  father  the  citizenship  of  Rome,  which  in  the 
case  of  a  Jew  could  have  been  secured  only  by  pur- 
chase. This  fact  declares  his  good  social  position. 
Reared  in  Tarsus,  he  mastered  the  Greek  language 
and  literature.  Between  the  age  of  ten  and  fifteen 
he  was  sent  to  Jerusalem  to  be  taught  "  according  to 
the  perfect  manner  of  the  law  of  his  fathers."  Here 
for  years  he  "  sat  at  the  feet "  of  Gamaliel,  the  most 
learned  Jewish  rabbi  of  that  age,  and  became  the 
strictest  of  the  Pharisees.  He  was  doubtless  living 
in  Jerusalem  at  the  very  time  when  Jesus  was  cruci- 
fied ;  most  certainly  he  was  there  two  years  afterward, 
for  he  held  the  clothes  of  those  who  stoned  the  mar- 
tyr Stephen,  and  consented  unto  his  death."  From 
this  time  he  was  an  open  and  most  bitter  persecutor 
of  the  disciples  of  Christ.  "  He  laid  waste  the  Church, 
entering  every  house,  and  haling  men  and  women 
committed  them  to  prison."  But  within  six  years  of 
the  crucifixion  this  unrelenting  persecutor,  on  an 
official  mission  to  Damascus  to  stamp  out  the  new 


54   ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

faith  there,  was  suddenly  and  marvellously  converted 
to  Christ,  and  during  the  twenty  years  that  elapsed 
between  his  conversion  and  the  writing  of  this  first 
letter  to  the  Corinthians,  he  not  only  himself  believed, 
but  was  constantly  preaching,  amid  the  severest  hard- 
ships and  persecutions,  the  fact  of  Christ's  resurrec- 
tion. His  writings  show  him  to  have  been  a  man  of 
great  learning,  profound  reasoning  powers,  and  in- 
tense emotion.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Peabody,  of  Cambridge 
— one  of  the  most  eminent  ministers  in  the  Unitarian 
denomination  and  a  man  of  great  erudition — writes 
concerning  Paul :  "  We  can  not  but  regard  him  as  the 
first  man  of  his  age,  and  we  can  name  no  man  of  any 
age  who  seems  to  us  greater  than  he." 

Such  was  the  man  who,  before  he  wrote  the  First 
Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  for  twenty  years — begin- 
ning within  six  years  of  the  crucifixion — the  most 
momentous  part  of  the  epoch  of  apostolic  evangeliza- 
tion, had  been  preaching  Jesus  and  the  resurrection. 
As  there  is  no  doubt  what  was  the  sum  and  substance 
of  his  preaching  after  his  conversion,  so  there  is  no 
doubt  what  was  the  preaching  of  the  apostles  for  the 
six  years  before  his  conversion.  From  writings  of 
unquestioned  authenticity  it  is  evident,  that  from  the 
beginning  of  their  ministry  the  apostles  proclaimed 
the  fact  of- the  resurrection  to  which  Paul,  now  in  the 
prime  of  life,  adds  his  testimony. 

3.  Examine  now  in  detail  Paul's  testimony,  the 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  55 

evidence  upon  which  he  asserts  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus,  in  connection  with  the  concurrent  testimony 
of  others.  He  enumerates  six  separate  testimonies  to 
the  resurrection  :  First,  That  of  Cephas  or  Peter,  the 
most  notable  and  distinguished  of  the  original  twelve, 
who,  it  seems  from  an  allusion  in  Luke's  Gospel,  on 
the  very  morning  of  the  resurrection  had  a  personal 
interview  with  the  risen  Christ.  What  occurred  at  this 
interview  is  not  stated.  Second,  That  of  the  twelve. 
The  apostolic  college,  though  consisting  of  only 
eleven  since  the  fall  of  Judas,  was  still  denominated 
*^  The  Twelve."  They  testified  to  the  appearance  of 
the  risen  Lord  in  their  midst,  when  only  ten  of  them 
were  present — Thomas  being  absent — on  the  evening 
of  the  same  day  that  He  rose  ;  and  to  a  second  ap- 
pearance eight  days  later,  when,  Thoma$  being  pres- 
ent, Jesus  thoroughly  satisfied  him  that  He  indeed 
was  risen.  The  evangelists  Luke,  Mark,  and  John 
corroborate  Paul.  Third,  That  of  above  five  hundred 
brethren  at  once.  This,  doubtless,  was  the  meeting 
on  a  mountain  in  Galilee,  which  Jesus  had  provided 
for  before  His  death  ;  and  to  which  both  the  angels 
and  the  risen  Lord  Himself  bade  the  women,  on  the 
morning  of  the  resurrection,  to  summon  the  disciples. 
The  apostles  must  have  been  at  this  assembly,  and 
here  received  their  great  commission.  Fourth,  That 
of  James,  who  must  have  been  alive  when  Paul  wrote, 
and  from  whose  own  lips  Paul  on  his  visit  to  Jeru- 


56    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

salem  must  have  received  the  testimony.  Fifth,  That 
of  all  the  apostles  together.  This  appearance,  which 
Luke  also  describes,  was  the  last  time  the  twelve 
looked  upon  the  Lord.  They  beheld  Him  in  the 
glory  of  His  ascension.  Sixth,  That  of  Paul  himself. 
He  himself  had  seen  the  risen  Jesus  ;  had  spoken  to 
Him  ;  had  heard  His  voice.  It  was  then  that  he  be- 
came at  once  a  believer  and  an  apostle. 

But  why  did  not  Paul  include  in  this  summary  the 
testimony  of  the  women  and  of  Mary  Magdalene,  to 
whom  Jesus  appeared  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrec- 
tion, as  recorded  by  the  evangelists ;  and  also  the  tes- 
timony of  the  two  disciples  to  whom  He  showed 
Himself  the  very  day  He  rose  on  the  way  to  Em- 
maus?  The  answer  is  plain.  Because  Paul  is  here 
declaring  the  apostolic  testimony  to  the  fact  of  the 
resurrection.  He  must,  therefore,  bring  forward  the 
evidence  of  the  apostles  only ;  he  must  enumerate 
only  those  appearances  that  had  been  granted  to 
apostles,  either  individually  or  in  company  with  oth- 
ers, "  they  being  the  constituted  witnesses."  When 
one  was  to  be  chosen  to  fill  the  place  of  Judas, 
Peter  insisted  that  the  selection  must  be  made  from 
those  "  which  having  companied  with  us  all  the  time 
that  the  Lord  Jesus  went  in  and  out  among  us,  be- 
ginning from  the  baptism  of  John  unto  the  day  that 
He  was  received  up  from  us  ;  of  these  must  one  be- 


ARG UMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.    5 7 

come  a  witness  with  us  of  His  resurrection."*  And 
Paul,  therefore,  makes  uo  allusion  to  the  two  on  the 
way  to  Emmaus,  because  they  were  not  apostles,  but 
simply  disciples,  as  the  narrative  of  Luke  shows. 
Nor  does  he  refer  to  the  testimony  of  the  women  for 
the  same  reason  ;  and  perhaps  also  because,  writing 
as  he  was  to  a  Greek  church,  he  well  knew  that 
"  among  the  Greeks  women  were  not  competent  wit- 
nesses." f  Paul  presented  only  such  testimony  as 
would  be  unimpeachable  in  the  judgment  of  the 
Corinthian  church.  To  that  we  may  rightly  add  the 
written  testimony  of  the  Gospels. 

Prof.  Holtzmann,  of  Heidelberg,  a  pronounced  Ra- 
tionalist, concludes  his  exhaustive  study  of  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  Gospels  "  by  declaring  the  results 
of  modern  labors  on  this  subject  to  be  in  perfect 
agreement  with  the  traditions  of  the  most  ancient 
ecclesiastical  writers  ;  namely,  in  affirming  the  writ- 
ings which  form  the  basis  of  our  first  three  Gospels, 
and  these  Gospels  themselves,  to  have  been  drawn  up 
between  the  years  60  and  80  of  our  era  ";  that  is  to 
say,  not  more  than  from  thirty  to  fifty  years  after  the 
Lord's  death,  if 

The  Gospel  of  John  he  puts  toward  the  end  of  the 
first  century,  the  limit  of  John's  life.    This  utterance 

*  Acts  i.  21,  22. 

t  "  Proofs  of  the  Resurrection,"  Morrison,  p.  116. 
I  Quoted  from  Godet. 

3* 


58    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

of  so  prominent  a  free-thinker  as  Prof.  Holtzmann,  is 
a  serious  set-back  to  the  bold  attempt  of  the  mod- 
ern school  of  destructive  critics  to  make  it  appear 
that  our  Gospels  were  not  written  until  the  middle 
of  the  second  century.  In  fact,  so  firmly  has  the  au- 
thenticity of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament  been 
established  by  modern  critical  study,  that  the  disci- 
ples of  the  destructive  school  have  well-nigh  ceased 
their  assaults  upon  the  New  Testament  to  try  their 
hand  upon  the  Old  Testament  as  a  more  hopeful 
point  of  attack.  The  evangelists  give  every  mark  of 
honest  witnesses.  Their  story  is  simple  and  clear. 
The  differences  in  minor  points  of  detail  show  that 
they  were  independent  witnesses.  Together  they  ex- 
hibit in  striking  unity  the  character  and  life  of  Christ. 

Dr.  Godet,  Professor  of  Theology  at  Neufchatel,  in 
his  "  Defence  of  Christianity,"  combines  with  ease  all 
these  testimonies  to  the  appearance  of  our  risen  Lord 
into  a  complete  and  consistent  narrative.  After  His 
resurrection  Jesus'  first  work  was  to  administer  com- 
fort and  reassurance  to  His  scattered  and  disheart- 
ened followers.  This  He  did  at  once  on  the  first 
day,  by  His  appearance  to  Mary  and  the  other  wom- 
en, to  the  two  on  the  way  to  Emmaus,  to  Peter  and 
the  twelve.  The  burden  of  all  His  salutations  was, 
"  Peace  be  unto  you."  Then  Jesus  must  bring  back 
the  one  wanderer,  Thomas,  and  satisfy  his  honest 
doubts.    This  filled  up  the  following  days.  When 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  59 

the  separated  disciples  had  been  reunited  and  the 
unity  of  the  apostolic  college  restored,  He  sent  them 
all  back  to  Galilee,  where  He  had  agreed  to  meet 
them.  And  having  fulfilled  His  promise,  and  given 
to  the  apostles  their  great  commission,  He  brings 
them  again  to  Jerusalem,  where  they  are  to  tarry 
until  they  were  "  endued  with  power  from  on  high  "; 
and  then,  in  a  last,  most  tender  and  solemn  appear- 
ance, He  leads  them  out  toward  Bethany,  when,  ris- 
ing upon  the  waiting  chariot  of  the  cloud  of  glory 
and  blessing  them,  rising  still  higher  and  still  bless- 
ing. He  is  borne  up  out  of  their  sight.  Calmly  re- 
view, now,  this  mass  of  testimony  to  the  fact  of 
Christ's  resurrection.  We  have  the  solemn  assevera- 
tion of  three  evangelists,  Matthew,  Mark,  and  Luke  ; 
of  three  of  the  leading  apostles,  Peter,  John,  and 
Paul ;  and,  finally,  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the 
whole  primitive  Church  as  represented  by  above  five 
hundred  persons,  of  whom,  Paul  says,  the  greater 
part  "  were  still  alive,  when  he  wrote  to  the  Corinth- 
ians, and  who,  therefore,  could  be  appealed  to  in  con- 
firmation or  denial  of  his  statement.  Moreover,  the 
fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  was  the  one  great 
theme  of  apostolic  preaching,  as  the  book  of  the 
Acts,  shows,  from  the  day  of  Pentecost  ;  that  is,  from 
only  fifty  days  after  the  crucifixion.  There  can  be 
no  doubt  as  to  what  the  apostles  maintained.  Paul 
declares  that  Christ  "  died  "  and    was  buried  "  and 


6o    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 


was  raised  on  the  third  day."  Luke  asserts  that 
"  He  showed  Himself  alive  after  His  passion  unto 
the  apostles  whom  He  had  chosen,  by  many  proofs, 
appearing  unto  them  by  the  space  of  forty  days,  and 
speaking  the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of 
God."f  Peter  claims  that  "God  raised  Him  up, 
having  loosed  the  pangs  of  death,  because  it  was  not 
possible  that  He  should  be  holden  of  it  and,  again, 
"  This  Jesus  did  God  raise  up,  whereof  we  are  all  wit- 
nesses." :j: 

These  utterances  are  sufficient  to  show  the  manner 
in  which  the  apostles  declared  the  fact  of  the  resur- 
rection. What  shall  we  then  say  of  their  testimony  ? 
Testimony  both  oral  and  written,  is  it  credible  ? 
Is  it  worthy  of  our  acceptance?  For  eighteen  hun- 
dred years  the  Christian  Church  has  maintained  that 
the  apostles  wrote  and  preached  as  they  did  because 
they  believed  the  great  fact  of  the  resurrection,  and  be- 
cause they  had  such  evidence  of  that  stupendous  fact 
that  they  could  not  do  otherwise.  Is  not  this  the 
natural  and  obvious  explanation  of  the  apostolic  tes- 
timony and  ministry  ?  But  other  explanations  have 
been  urged,  and  we  must,  therefore,  examine  them. 
For  w^e  can  not  accept  even  what  seems  to  us  an  ob- 
vious conclusion,  without  submitting  it  to  every  pos- 
sible assault.  We  must  sift  this  matter  to  the  bottom. 


I  Cor.  XV.  3,  4.  t  Acts  i.  3.  I  Acts  ii.  24,  32. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  6i 


4.  Infidelity  has  brought  forward  but  three  ex- 
planations of  this  apostolic  testimony.  It  can  bring 
no  others.  First.  It  has  been  claimed  that  the  apos- 
tles were  dishonest.  They  testified  to  that  which 
they  knew  to  be  false.  A  similar  charge  of  fraud 
was  made  in  the  very  age  of  the  apostles.  After  the 
Roman  guard  informed  the  High  Priests  of  the  mar- 
vellous scenes  on  the  morning  of  the  resurrection  at 
the  empty  tomb,  the  hastily  summoned  Sanhedrin, 
having  consulted  together,  bribed  the  soldiers  to  say 
that  Christ's  disciples  came  by  night  and  stole  His 
body  while  they  slept.  And  thirty  years  after  the 
crucifixion  we  find  that  this  story  was  still  believed  by 
Jews.  Modern  infidelity  does  not  repeat  this  story, 
which  is  absurd  on  the  face  of  it,  for  no  Roman  sol- 
dier would  confess  to  sleeping  at  his  post  of  duty, 
the  inexorable  penalty  of  which  was  death.  But  it 
re-echoes  the  same  charge  of  fraud  by  asserting  that 
the  apostles,  having  once  made  the  cause  of  Jesus 
their  own,  were  of  necessity  compelled  to  maintain 
it  even  at  the  cost  of  deception.  But  the  notion  that 
so  vast  a  body  of  persons  as  composed  the  Christian 
Church  of  the  apostolic  age,  could  be  induced  to  con- 
struct and  disseminate  so  gross  a  cheat,  and  so  cir- 
cumstantially, too,  is  wholly  inadmissible.  Only 
think  of  it.  During  those  first  twenty  years  of  apos- 
tolic evangelism,  hundreds  of  men  were  going  about 
into  all  the  cities  and  villages  of  the  Roman  Empire 


62    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 


telling  everybody  they  met  that  they  had  seen  with 
their  own  eyes,  and  heard  with  their  own  ears,  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Crucified  One,  after  He  had  risen  from 
the  dead  ;  and  yet  all  the  while  they  must  have  been 
conscious  that  they  never  had  seen  or  heard  anything 
of  the  sort,  but  that  the  whole  thing  was  a  base  lie. 
And  so  far  from  receiving  any  advantage  from  mak- 
ing this  false  statement,  their  labors  everywhere  only 
exposed  them  to  derision,  hatred,  persecution,  and 
even  death  itself.  Did  the  world  ever,  before  or 
since,  witness  such  a  phenomenon  ?  To  accept  the 
theory  that  the  apostles  were  dishonest,  we  have  the 
inexplicable  mystery  of  "  a  conspiracy  to  cheat  the 
world  into  piety,  honesty,  and  charity."  Who  can 
doubt  the  sincerity  of  such  a  man  as  Paul  ?  The 
theory  of  fraud  on  the  part  of  the  apostles  is  now 
rejected,  even  by  infidels,  as  morally  impossible. 

Baur,  of  the  Tubingen  school,  says  :  "  History  must 
hold  to  the  assertion  that  to  the  faith  of  the  disciples 
the  resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ  was  a  fact,  certain 
and  indisputable.  It  is  in  this  faith  only,  that  Chris- 
tianity found  a  ground  solid  enough  to  erect  upon 
it  the  superstructure  of  its  whole  historic  develop- 
ment." ^ 

Strauss  says :  The  historian  must  acknowledge 
that   the  disciples  firmly  believed  that  Jesus  was 


*  "  Drei  Ersten  Jahrhunderte,"  Second  Ed.,  pp.  39,  40. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  63 

risen."  Again  :  "  The  fact  that  the  apostle  Paul 
heard  from  the  mouth  of  Peter,  of  James,  and  of 
others  besides,  that  Jesus  had  appeared  to  them,  and 
that  they  all,  and  the  five  hundred  brethren  also, 
were  absolutely  convinced  that  they  had  seen  Jesus 
living,  after  He  had  died,  is  one  which  we  will  not  call 
into  question."  ^  Honest  doubt,  therefore,  as  to  the 
sincerity  of  the  apostolic  testimony  is  impossible,  scep- 
tics themselves  being  the  judges. 

Again  :  It  has  been  urged  by  some  sceptical  writers, 
that  though  the  apostles  undoubtedly  were  honest  in 
believing  that  Jesus  rose,  they  were  mistaken  in 
thinking  that  He  was  really  dead.  The  fact  was  that 
what  they  thought  was  death  in  His  case  was  merely 
a  swoon  or  death  faint.  But  this  theory  simply  shifts 
the  falsehood  from  the  apostles  to  Christ.  Adopting 
this  view,  what  becomes  of  the  moral  character  of 
Christ,  which  infidels  of  every  school  delight  to  por- 
tray? What  shall  we  think  of  a  person  who  plainly 
on  several  occasions  foretells  to  His  disciples  His 
approaching  death ;  then  apparently,  but  not  really, 
dies ;  then  pretends  to  have  risen  from  the  dead,  then 
after  a  lapse  of  forty  days  suddenly  disappears,  and 
leaves  His  credulous  disciples  to  proclaim  to  the 
world  the  fact  of  His  resurrection,  and  to  suffer  un- 
told misery  in  founding  upon  His  utter  deception  a 


*  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  p.  289. 


64    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

church  to  bear  His  name  and  to  perpetuate  His 
memory  to  the  end  of  time,  in  an  ordinance  that 
every  time  it  is  observed  declares  in  its  emblems  of 
bread  and  wine  that  He  really  died  for  men — what 
shall  we  think  of  such  gross  deception  ?  We  can  not, 
I  repeat,  hold  that  the  resurrection  was  a  return  from 
mere  lethargy,  or  trance,  or  swoon,  without  destroy- 
ing the  moral  character  of  Christ. 

But  we  have  irrefragable  evidence  that  Jesus  actu- 
ally died.  Conceive,  if  possible,  the  mental  and  phys- 
ical strain  upon  Him  during  His  passion,  the  awful 
struggle  of  Gethsemane,  the  cruel  mockings  of  the 
judgment  hall,  the  fearful  laceration  of  the  Roman 
scourging,  the  dreadful  exhaustive  bearing  of  His 
cross  to  Golgotha,  the  murderous  driving  of  the  iron 
spikes  into  the  quivering  flesh  of  His  hands  and  feet, 
the  tremendous  shock  upon  His  whole  nervous  sys- 
tem as  the  cross,  borne  aloft  by  His  rugged  execu- 
tioners, was  shot  with  a  quick  bound  into  its  prepared 
socket ;  and  then  those  six  long,  weary,  fearful  hours 
as  He  hung  suspended  in  mid-air,  subjected  to  the 
jeers  of  His  enemies,  parched  with  thirst,  and  His 
tender,  sensitive  heart  so  full  of  desolate  anguish  that 
He  thought  that  even  His  Father  had  forsaken  Him, 
bursting  forth  at  the  climax  of  His  agony :  "  My 
God  !  my  God  !  why  hast  thou  forsaken  me  ?  "  How 
could  His  heart  keep  from  breaking,  and  His  body 
from  "yielding  up  the  ghost  "  ?  Roman  executioners 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  65 

made  sure  work.  They  examined  His  body  and  pro- 
nounced Him  dead.  But  to  make  assurance  doubly 
sure,  "  one  of  the  soldiers  with  a  spear  pierced  His 
side,  and  straightway  there  came  out  blood  and 
water.  And  he  that  saw  it  hath  borne  witness  and 
his  witness  is  true ;  and  he  knoweth  that  he  saith 
true,  that  ye  also  may  believe."  * 

What  next?  The  friends  of  Jesus  beg  for  His 
body  that  they  may  give  it  a  decent  burial.  But  no, 
Pilate  refuses  his  consent  to  its  removal  until  an 
official  examination  is  instituted,  and  he  know^s  that 
Jesus  is  dead.  And  what  then?  The  lifeless  form 
is  swathed  from  head  to  foot  in  linen  bands  and  put 
into  a  tomb,  closed  with  an  official  seal,  where  it 
remains,  according  to  the  testimony  of  the  Roman 
guard,  a  whole  day  and  two  nights.  And  yet,  not- 
withstanding all  the  mental  and  physical  strain  of 
His  agony  and  crucifixion,  all  the  expedients  resorted 
to  in  order  to  make  sure  of  His  death,  and  to  prevent 
His  escape  from  the  sepulchre,  some  would  have  us 
believe  that  on  the  third  morning  thereafter  the 
bruised,  lacerated,  and  crushed  Son  of  Man,  having 
undergone  no  miraculous  change,  but  having  simply 
recovered  from  a  fainting  fit,  walked  for  two  hours  a 
distance  of  several  miles  to  Emmaus !  Behold  the 
credulity  of  unbelief !    More  recent  sceptical  writers 


*  John  xix.  34,  35. 


66    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 


treat  this  theory  with  contempt,  Strauss  writes  :  A 
man  half  dead,  dragging  himself  in  languor  and  ex- 
haustion out  of  his  tomb,  with  wounds  requiring 
careful  and  continuous  medical  treatment — could  he, 
in  such  a  state,  have  produced  upon  the  minds  of  the 
disciples  the  impression  that  he  was  victor  over  death 
and  the  grave,  the  Prince  of  Life — an  impression 
which  nevertheless  was  the  source  and  spring  of  all 
their  subsequent  activity?  Such  a  return  to  life 
could  only  have  served  to  weaken  the  impressions 
which  Jesus  had  in  His  former  life  made  upon  their 
minds  by  His  life  and  death,  and  could  never  have 
turned  their  sorrow  into  enthusiasm  and  intensified 
their  admiration  into  adoration."* 

Once  more  :  There  is  only  one  other  possible  scep- 
tical explanation  of  the  apostolic  testimony.  If  the 
apostles  were  not  dishonest,  and  if  they  were  not 
mistaken  concerning  His  death,  then  the  appearances 
of  Christ  after  His  death  were  simply  hallucinations 
on  their  part,  mere  visions  of  their  excited  imagina- 
tions. This  is  the  view  now  maintained  by  most 
infidel  writers.  Their  reasoning  has  an  air  of  plausi- 
bility. Jesus  actually  died  upon  the  cross,  say  they, 
but  His  supposed  reappearances,  though  honestly  be- 
lieved in  by  the  disciples,  were,  after  all,  mere  illu- 
sions on  their  part,  resulting  from  the  intensity  of 
their  feelings  toward  Him.    Mary,  to  whom  the  first 

*  "  Life  of  Jesus,"  p.  298. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  67 

appearance  came,  was  no  doubt  unsound  in  her  mind. 
Through  her  the  illusion  was  communicated  gradually 
to  the  apostles,  and  so  throughout  the  whole  church. 
Moreover,  by  the  very  law  of  association,  every  part 
of  the  country  that  had  been  frequented  by  Christ 
would  awaken  in  the  minds  of  His  loyal  disciples 
wherever  they  went  memories  of  Him,  until  they  be- 
came actually  morbid  in  their  feelings,  and  conse- 
quently imagined  that  they  saw  Him  just  as  they  had 
been  wont  to  see  Him.  The  belief  of  Paul  that  he 
had  seen  the  risen  Saviour  is  accounted  for  in  much 
the  same  way.  He  was  a  man  of  very  excitable 
nervous  temperament,  subject  to  epileptic  attacks, 
and  predisposed  to  see  visions.  Let  us  see  if  this 
theory  of  visions  will  stand  the  ordeal  of  facts. 

First,  the  theory  takes  it  for  granted  that  all  the 
appearances  of  Jesus  to  His  disciples  occurred  in 
Galilee.  This  is  not  true.  Only  two  of  them  were 
in  Galilee.  Most  of  them  were  in  and  about  Jeru- 
salem. The  assumption  of  the  power  of  association 
to  produce  these  appearances  is  purely  gratuitous. 
Again,  the  theory  assumes  that  the  apostles  believed 
in  the  fact  of  the  resurrection  because  of  Mary's 
faith.  This  is  pure  fiction.  Peter  and  John  had 
found  the  sepulchre  empty  before  Mary  announced 
that  Christ  was  risen ;  and  the  sight  of  the  empty 
tomb  had  already  caused  John  to  believe.*  Mark 

*  John  XX.  8. 


68    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 


says  that  when  Mary  "  came  and  told  them "  that 
He  was  alive  and  had  been  seen  of  her,"  they  "  dis- 
believed." *  And  Luke,  relating  the  effect  upon  them 
of  the  news  brought  by  the  whole  company  of  women, 
says,  their  words  "  appeared  in  their  sight  as  idle 
talk,  and  they  disbelieved  them."  f  There  is  not  the 
slightest  mention  of  Mary's  statement  in  the  Gospel 
of  Matthew  or  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  or  in  any 
of  the  epistles.  In  enumerating  the  testimonies  to 
the  resurrection,  Paul  does  not  even  mention  Mary. 
Indeed,  it  would  almost  seem  as  if  the  apostles  an- 
ticipated this  modern  infidel  objection  to  the  resur- 
rection, and  purposely  refrained  from  quoting  the 
appearances  to  Mary  and  the  other  women.  Renan's 
boast  that  the  glory  of  the  resurrection  belongs  to 
Mary  of  Magdala,"  does  not  stand  the  test  of  the  facts. 

Once  more :  The  nature  of  the  appearances  is 
directly  opposed  to  the  visionary  theory.  It  was  in 
no  ethereal,  intangible,  unearthly  form  that  Christ 
appeared.  He  afforded  them  the  same  kind  of  proof 
of  His  real  existence  after  His  resurrection  that  He 
did  before  His  death.  He  walked  with  them,  held 
prolonged  talks  with  them,  instructed  them,  ate  be- 
fore them  and  with  them,  explained  the  Scriptures 
to  them,  gave  them  the  Magna  Charta  of  the  Church 
in  which  He  commanded  them  to  go  into  all  the 


*  Mark  xvi.  ii. 


t  Luke  xxiv.  1 1. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  69 

world  and  proclaim  the  Good  News,"  and  lastly 
gave  them  absolute  proof  of  His  corporeal  presence, 
once  at  His  first  meeting  with  the  twelve,  when  "  they 
were  terrified  and  affrighted,  and  supposed  that  they 
beheld  a  spirit.  And  He  said  unto  them.  Why  are  ye 
troubled  ?  And  why  do  reasonings  arise  in  your 
hearts  ?  See  my  hands  and  my  feet,  that  it  is  I  my- 
self. Handle  me  and  see,  for  a  spirit  hath  not  flesh 
and  bones,  as  ye  behold  me  having.  And  when  He 
had  said  this  He  showed  them  His  hands  and  His 
feet."  *  And  yet  again,  eight  days  later,  when  Thomas, 
who  had  been  absent  from  the  first  interview  and 
would  not  believe  without  the  absolute  demonstra- 
tion of  touch,  was  present,  Jesus  appeared  and  said : 
"  Thomas,  reach  hither  thy  finger  and  see  my  hands ; 
and  reach  thy  hand  and  put  it  into  my  side ;  and  be 
not  faithless,  but  believing."  That  satisfied  Thomas 
that  it  was  indeed  the  same  Jesus,  that  had  been 
crucified,  risen  from  the  dead.  My  Lord  and  my 
God,"  he  exclaimed.f  Doubtless  it  was  to  these 
ocular  and  sensible  proofs  of  Christ's  resurrection 
that  John  referred  in  his  First  Epistle  when  he  said, 
"  That  which  was^from  the  beginning  which  we  have 
heard,  which  we  have  seen  with'  our  eyes,  which  we 
have  looked  upon  and  our  hands  have  handled  of  the 
word  of  life;  that  which  we  have  seen  and  heard 


*  Luke  xxiv,  37-40. 


t  John  XX.  24-28. 


70    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 


declare  we  unto  you  that  ye  also  may  have  fellowship 
with  us  ;  and  truly  our  fellowship  is  with  the  Father 
and  with  His  Son  Jesus  Christ."  *  My  friends,  if 
Jesus  really  rose  from  the  dead,  what  proof  of  that 
fact  could  have  been  given  to  the  disciples  that  was 
not  given  ?  The  eye,  the  ear,  the  touch — all  were 
satisfied  to  the  utmost — not  at  any  one  time,  but 
at  many  different  times  and  under  varying  circum- 
stances throughout  the  space  of  forty  days.  Hallu- 
cination, therefore,  is  an  impossible  theory,  if,  as 
sceptics  admit,  the  apostles  are  honest  in  their  testi- 
mony. 

Still  again :  The  number  of  these  appearances,  and 
the  peculiar  character  of  some  of  them,  forbids  belief 
in  the  theory  of  visions.  If  only  one  appearance  had 
been  granted,  and  that  to  Mary,  this  theory  might 
have  some  standing.  But  there  were  at  least  ten  sep- 
arate appearances,  under  ten  different  sets  of  circum- 
stances. This  fact  alone  would  militate  against  the 
view  that  they  were  mere  creations  of  the  fancy.  But 
some  of  these  appearances  entirely  exclude  such  a 
supposition.  For  instance,  Christ  appears  to  the  two 
on  the  way  to  Emmaus.  Their  eyes  are  holden  so 
that  they  do  not  recognize  Him.  They  are  in  a  most 
despondent  mood, — the  opposite  condition  of  mind 
which  this  theory  demands.  For  six  miles  Jesus  walks 

*  I  John  i.  1-3. 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.    7 1 

with  them;  for  two  hours  He  explains  the  prophecies 
concerning  Himself  to  them.  These  peculiar  circum- 
stances prove  that  this  could  not  have  been  a  vision. 
Had  there  been  but  one  disciple,  it  could  scarcely  be 
believed  that  such  an  experience  was  a  mere  fancy. 
But  here  are  two  men  who  seem  to  have  given  up  all 
hope  that  Christ  would  rise.  And  yet,  at  the  end  of 
their  interview  with  Christ,  when  He  reveals  His  real 
identity  to  them,  they  hurry  back  over  the  six-mile 
road  again  to  carry  the  glad  tidings  to  the  apostles, 
so  completely  convinced  are  they  of  the  great  fact 
itself.  Or  take  the  appearance  of  which  Paul  speaks, 
"  to  above  500  brethren  at  once."  Can  you  conceive 
it  possible  that  500  persons  should  be  drawn  from 
their  homes  to  a  mountain  by  sheer  force  of  hallucina- 
tion, and  all  of  them  at  once  under  the  power  of  that 
hallucination,  so  that  they  all  testified  that  a  certain 
person  was  present  upon  that  mountain  and  addressed 
them  who  was  not  there  at  all  ?  Can  you  conceive  of 
such  a  phenomenon  ?  Would  it  not  require  greater 
faith  to  believe  that  such  an  occurrence  was  possible 
than  to  believe  that  Jesus  Christ  was  really  there 
Himself  in  His  resurrected  body  ? 

And  yet  again :  If  the  theory  of  visions  is  correct, 
how  shall  we  account  for  the  fact  that,  with  the  ex- 
ception of  the  appearance  to  Paul,  and  with  the 
doubtful  exception  of  that  to  John,  on  the  Isle  of 
Patmos,  these  appearances  of  Jesus  completely  ceased 


;2    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

after  the  ascension  ?  "  None  of  the  disciples,  under 
any  excitement,  ever  again  saw  their  Lord  as  the  man 
Christ  Jesus  walking  the  earth,  as  before  ;  or  saw  Him 
coming  to  the  earth,  although  they  all  believed  that 
He  would  speedily  return  in  like  manner  as  they  saw 
Him  going  into  Heaven."  On  the  ground  that  all 
these  former  appearances  were  mere  visions,  how  shall 
we  account  for  their  abrupt  and  sudden  cessation  ?  If 
these  delusions  created  the  faith  in  the  resurrection, 
then  we  should  expect  the  faith  to  multiply  the  de- 
lusions. But  all  at  once  the  appearances  ceased.  As 
Prof.  Godet  says :  "  If  at  least  it  could  be  said  that 
this  cessation  of  the  visions  corresponded  with  a 
gradual  weakening  of  the  enthusiasm  of  the  Church, 
one  might  suppose  that  the  visions  ceased  when  the 
religious  excitement  began  to  decline.  But  the  very 
opposite  of  this  is  shown  by  history  to  have  been  the 
case.  The  visions  stopped  exactly  at  the  moment 
when  enthusiasm  was  at  its  height,  and  when  we 
should  have  expected  them  to  have  increased  in  num- 
ber, and  to  have  continued  for  months  and  years." 
The  sceptic  can  not  account  for  this  fact ;  but  the 
apostolic  testimony  does.  The  appearances  ceased 
because  the  risen  Lord  ascended  to  the  place  of  power, 
no  longer  to  be  known  after  the  flesh,  but  to  be  far 
better  known  and  understood  by  the  presence  of  His 
living  spirit  in  human  hearts.  Though  many  more 
facts  might  be  cited  to  show  the  absurdity  of  this 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  73 

theory  of  visions — the  final  refuge  of  modern  infidels 
— a  sufficient  number  has  been  presented,  I  trust,  to 
convince  any  reasonable  person  of  its  utter  invalidity 
and  falsity.  It  is  certain  that  such  illusions,  improba- 
ble under  any  circumstances,  could  only  be  possible 
to  minds  under  the  strong  excitement  of  restored 
faith.  But  how  could  the  apostles,  who  knew  that 
their  Master  was  dead  and  His  cause  utterly  ship- 
wrecked, gain  faith  enough  to  produce  the  strong  im- 
agination, not  in  one  mind  alone,  but  in  the  minds  of 
all,  that  they  saw  Him  actually  alive  from  the  dead  ? 
It  is  a  psychological  impossibility.  The  theory  of 
visions,  like  the  two  former  theories,  is  untenable. 

What,  now,  is  the  result  of  our  examination  ?  It 
is  acknowledged  by  infidels  that  the  apostles  were 
honest  in  their  testimony.  It  is  also  freely  granted 
that  they  were  not  deceived  as  to  the  death  of  Jesus. 
And  we  have  sufficient  proof,  only  a  part  of  which  has 
been  presented,  that  the  appearances  of  Christ  were 
not  hallucinations  on  the  part  of  the  disciples.  There 
is  but  one  alternative  remaining,  and  that  is  that  the 
natural  and  obvious  explanation  of  the  testimony  of 
the  apostles  is  true,  namely,  that  Jesus  Christ,  who 
died  and  was  buried,  did  rise  from  the  dead.  "  And 
show  Himself  alive  after  His  passion  by  many  proofs, 
appearing  unto  them  by  the  space  of  forty  days,  and 
speaking  the  things  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God." 
Therefore,  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  an  historic  fact. 
4 


74   ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

The  evidence  upon  which  it  rests  has  been  sifted  and 
found  convincing  to  the  greatest  intellects.  No  event 
is  better  attested  than  the  resurrection  of  Jesus 
Christ. 

II.  Let  us  now  consider  our  second  point :  The 
historic  fact  of  the  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  a  firm  basis 
of  personal  faith  in  Him. 

I.  Because  it  authenticates  His  divine  character 
and  mission. 

On  various  occasions  Jesus  foretold  His  death,  and 
hinted  at  His  resurrection.  But,  as  He  was  going  up 
to  Jerusalem  to  the  Passover,  at  which  He  was  to 
suffer,  He  announced  His  resurrection  to  the  twelve 
apart,  in  the  plainest  words :  "  Behold,  we  go  up  to 
Jerusalem  ;  and  the  Son  of  Man  shall  be  delivered 
unto  the  chief  priests  and  scribes,  and  they  shall  con- 
demn Him  to  death ;  and  shall  deliver  Him  unto  the 
Gentiles  to  mock,  and  to  scourge,  and  to  crucify  ;  and 
the  third  day  He  shall  be  raised  up."  *  Matthew, 
Mark,  and  Luke  all  record  these  memorable  words.f 
His  predictions  of  His  death  and  resurrection  are  so 
interwoven  into  the  entire  evangelic  narrative  that 
we  can  not  take  them  out  and  retain  any  of  His  re- 
corded acts  and  words  as  true.  Had  Christ  not  risen 
from  the  dead  He  would  have  proved  Himself  to  be 


*  Matthew  XX.  i8,  19. 

t  Mark  x.  33,  34  ;  Luke  xviii.  31-34. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  75 

an  impostor  and  blasphemer  of  the  basest  sort. 
Empty  indeed  is  Christian  faith  if  Christ  did  not  rise 
from  the  dead.  There  is  absolutely  no  middle  ground  ; 
either  Jesus  was  what  He  claimed  to  be  or  He  was 
not.  If  He  was,  His  resurrection  was  already  assured. 
If  He  was  not,  He  could  not  have  been  the  Son  of 
God.  His  resurrection,  therefore,  was  a  moral  neces- 
sity from  His  character  as  drawn  by  the  four  evan- 
gelists. "  But  now  is  Christ  risen  from  the  dead  ;  " 
then  He  was  what  He  claimed  to  be ;  then  His 
words  are  true  ;  then  by  His  resurrection  God  set  the 
seal  of  His  approval  upon  Him,  and  by  the  mysteri- 
ous workings  in  the  tomb  of  Joseph  of  Arimathea 
evermore  declares  to  the  whole  universe  of  created 
intelligences  :  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I 
am  well  pleased ;  hear  ye  Him."  Surely  an  event 
accompanied  by  so  many  details,  and  testified  to  by  so 
many  witnesses,  is  the  most  public  and  complete  proof 
that  the  mind  of  man  can  desire  of  the  divine  commis- 
sion of  Jesus  Christ.  All  that  He  ever  spoke  must  be 
possessed  of  divine  authority.  The  Gospel  He  declared 
must  be,  in  its  whole  extent  and  in  its  every  part, 
the  will  of  God  to  man.  Paul  writes  to  the  Romans 
that  Christ  ^'  was  declared  to  be  the  Son  of  God,  with 
power,  according  to  the  spirit  of  holiness,  by  the 
resurrection  from  the  dead."  *  Moreover,  Jesus  Him- 


Romans  i.  4. 


76   ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

self,  when  appealed  to  for  a  miraculous  attestation  of 
His  claims  as  the  Messiah,  declared  His  resurrection 
above  all  other  miracles  to  be  the  sufficient  and  only 
proof:  ''There  shall  no  sign  be  given  but  the  sign  of 
Jonah,  the  prophet ;  for  as  Jonah  was  three  days  and 
three  nights  in  the  belly  of  the  whale,  so  shall  the 
Son  of  Man  be  three  days  and  three  nights  in  the 
heart  of  the  earth."*  The  expression,  "three  days 
and  three  nights,"  is  employed  according  to  a  received 
rule  among  the  Jews,  that  a  part  of  a  day  is  put  for 
the  whole.  His  resurrection,  therefore,  is  no  ordinary 
miracle  ;  it  is  no  mere  accident.  It  is  an  essential 
part  of  the  divine  plan  of  salvation  ;  an  extraordinary 
event  graciously  vouchsafed  by  Almighty  God  as  a 
sure  and  immovable  foundation  for  our  faith  in  Christ. 
Hence  the  apostle  John,  after  recording  certain  ap- 
pearances of  the  risen  Jesus,  says :  "  Many  other 
signs,  therefore,  did  Jesus  in  the  presence  of  the  dis- 
ciples, which  are  not  written  in  this  book ;  but  these 
are  written  that  ye  may  believe  that  Jesus  is  the 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God ;  and  that  believing,  ye  may 
have  life  in  His  name."  f 

2.  By  the  resurrection  of  Christ  we  know  that  He 
had  power  to  impart  to  His  apostles,  to  whom  it  was 
given  to  establish  the  Christian  Church,  and  to  Paul, 
as  the  special  apostle  to  the  Gentiles,  the  ability  to 


*  Matthew  xii.  39,  40. 


t  John  XX.  30-31. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  77 

explain  and  formulate  Christian  truth,  and  to  confirm 
their  teaching  by  miraculous  signs.  For  by  His  res- 
urrection we  have  confidence  in  His  words  and  power. 
And  we  have  the  record  that  at  His  first  appear- 
ance to  the  twelve  He  said :  "  As  the  Father  hath 
sent  me,  even  so  I  send  you.  And  when  He  had  said 
this.  He  breathed  on  them,  and  saith  unto  them  :  Re- 
ceive ye  the  Holy  Ghost ;  whose  soever  sins  ye  forgive 
they  are  forgiven  unto  them,  and  whose  soever  sins  ye 
retain  they  are  retained."  *  And  again,  on  the  moun- 
tain in  Galilee,  He  said  to  the  same  apostles  :  "  All  au- 
thority hath  been  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  on 
earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  make  disciples  of  all  the 
nations,  baptizing  them  in  the  name  of  the  Father, 
and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  teaching  them 
to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  command  you  ; 
and  lo,  I  am  with  you  all  the  days,  even  unto  the  end 
of  the  world."  f 

In  virtue,  then,  of  these  words,  confirmed  by  His 
resurrection,  our  faith  may  securely  rest  upon  apos- 
tolic teaching,  and  by  that  teaching  we,  in  turn,  may 
better  understand  what  the  resurrection  means  for 
ourselves.  The  concurrent  apostolic  interpretation 
of  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  as  related  to  us,  is  given 
by  Paul  in  Romans.  The  faith  of  Abraham,  he  says, 
was    reckoned  unto  him  for  righteousness.    Now,  it 


*John  XX.  21,  23. 


t  Matthew  xxviii.  16-20. 


78    ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

was  not  written  for  Abraham's  sake  alone  that  faith 
was  reckoned  unto  him,  but  for  our  sake  'also,  unto 
whom  it  shall  be  reckoned,  who  believe  on  Him  that 
raised  Jesus  our  Lord  from  the  dead,  who  was  deliv- 
ered up  for  our  trespasses  and  was  raised  up  for  our 
justification."  *  In  Paul's  mind,  then,  the  death  and 
resurrection  of  Jesus  were  not  separated,  isolated 
events,  but  parts  of  the  one  and  the  self-same  stu- 
pendous action.  Each  involved  the  other.  If  Jesus 
died  for  our  sins,  He  rose  again  for  our  justification. 
The  faith,  then,  that  grasps  one  must  lay  hold  of  the 
other.  To  believe  in  His  resurrection  and  then  to 
deny  His  atoning  death,  is  impossible  ;  or  to  believe 
in  His  atoning  death  and  then  to  deny  His  resurrec- 
tion, is  equally  impossible.  Both  stand  or  fall  to- 
gether. Therefore,  in  staking  life  and  all  that  life 
holds  dear  "  upon  the  fact  of  Christ's  resurrection, 
the  apostles  declared  with  equal  emphasis  "  Christ 
and  Him  crucified." 

And  in  proclaiming,  as  Paul  did,  that  "  if  thou 
shalt  confess  with  thy  mouth  the  Lord  Jesus," — that 
is,  publicly  acknowledge  Him  as  Lord  and  Master — 
"and  shalt  believe  in  thine  heart  that  God  hath 
raised  Him  from  the  dead,  thou  shalt  be  saved,"t 
the  necessity  of  the  death  of  Christ  was  by  no  means 
ignored,  but  most  certainly  included. 


*  Romans  iv.  22-25. 


t  Romans  x.  9. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.  79 

This,  then,  is  the  simple  Gospel,  as  the  good 
news  "  comes  to  me  both  from  Christ  and  His  apos- 
tles :  "  Christ  was  delivered  up  for  our  trespasses  ; 
I  am  a  sinner,  the  law  of  God  condemns  me  ;  Jesus 
died  to  bring  me  into  reconciliation  with  God."  That 
is  one  side  of  it.  "  Christ  was  raised  up  for  our  jus- 
tification ;  Jesus  died  for  me,  God  forgave  me,  Christ 
rose  from  the  dead  to  assure  me  of  that  fact."  Here, 
then,  is  a  solid  foundation  for  my  faith.  His  resur- 
rection gives  me  implicit  confidence  in  Himself.  I 
can  not  doubt  His  Word,  or  the  words  of  His  or- 
dained apostles.  He  and  they  both  assure  me  that 
God  has  forgiven  me.  I  trust  in  that  Word,  and,  lo ! 
I  have  the  witness  in  myself,  a  superadded  testimony, 
"the  Spirit  of  God  witnessing"  with  my  spirit,  that  I 
am  a  child  of  God,  a  restored  child,  a  forgiven  child, 
an  adopted  child,  and  with  confidence  I  now  draw 
near  my  God,  and  cry,  "  Abba,  Father." 

3.  The  resurrection  of  Jesus  is  a  firm  basis  of  per- 
sonal faith  in  Him  because  it  illustrates  what  Chris- 
tianity means.  It  is  Christianity  embodied  in  action. 
His  resurrection  is  the  prophecy  of  what  restored 
humanity  is  destined  to  be,  and  the  pledge  to  every 
believer  of  all  that  enters  into  our  faith  and  hope. 
"  Now,  if  Christ  is  preached  that  He  hath  been 
raised  from  the  dead,  how  say  some  among  you  that 
there  is  no  resurrection  of  the  dead  ?  But  if  there  is 
no  resurrection  of  the  dead,  neither  hath  Christ  been 


8o   ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION. 

raised.  But  now  hath  Christ  been  raised  from  the 
dead  the  first-fruits  of  them  that  are  asleep.  For 
since  by  man  came  death,  by  man  came  also  the 
resurrection  of  the  dead.  For  as  in  Adam  all  die,  so 
also  in  Christ  shall  all  be  made  alive.  But  each  in 
his  own  order  (or  regiment) :  Christ  the  first-fruits 
(the  great  commander  rises  first),  then  (in  the  next 
rank)  they  that  are  Christ's  at  His  coming."  *  He, 
though  the  Son  of  God,  died,  and  was  laid  in  the 
grave  ;  but,  assured  that  He  rose  from  it  a  conqueror, 
we  too,  by  faith  in  Him,  may  gladly  lie  in  the  grave 
also,  for  in  due  time  we  shall  come  forth  from  it  con- 
querors in  our  turn.  It  is  said  that  a  century  ago  an 
infidel  German  countess,  dying,  ordered  that  her 
grave  be  covered  with  a  solid  granite  slab ;  that 
around  should  be  placed  solid  blocks  of  stone,  and 
the  whole  be  fastened  together  by  strong  iron  clamps, 
and  that  on  the  stone  be  cut  these  words :  "  This 
burial-place,  purchased  to  all  eternity,  must  never  be 
opened."  But  a  little  seed  sprouted  under  the  cov- 
ering, and  the  tiny  shoot  found  its  way  through  be- 
tween two  of  the  slabs,  and  grew  there  slowly  and 
surely  until  it  burst  the  clamps  asunder,  and,  lifting 
the  immense  blocks,  the  structure  ere  long  became  a 
confused  mass  of  rock,  among  which,  in  verdure  and 
beauty,  grew  the  giant  oak  which  had  thus  broken 
the  bars  of  the  sepulchre. 

*  I  Corinthians  xv.  12-14,  20-23. 


ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  RESURRECTION.    8 1 

In  every  grave  on  earth's  green  sward  is  the  tiny 
seed  of  the  resurrection  Hfe  of  our  Lord  —  in  the 
graves  of  our  kindred,  our  fathers  and  mothers  and 
children  and  friends  ;  and  that  seed  can  not  perish,  it 
will  germinate  when  the  warm  south  wind  of  Christ's 
return  brings  back  the  spring-time  to  this  cold,  deso- 
late, sin-cursed  earth  of  ours  ;  and  they  that  are  in 
their  graves,  and  we  who  shall  lie  down  in  ours,  will 
feel  in  our  mortal  bodies  the  power  of  His  resurrec- 
tion and  come  forth.  And  over  every  sepulchre  of 
the  Blessed  Dead,  above  the  mute  witnesses  of  their 
long  slumber,  shall  grow  in  beauty  and  eternal  fresh- 
ness the  tree  of  life. 

Glory  be  to  the  Father,  and  to  the  Son,  and  to  the 
Holy  Ghost,  As  it  was  in  the  beginning,  is  now,  and 
ever  shall  be,  world  without  end,    Ame7i  / 


4* 


III. 


THE  ARGUMENT   FROM  THE  PER- 
SONALITY OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


C.  P.  MASDEN,  D.D. 


"  When  Jesus  came  into  the  coasts  of  Cesarea  Philippic  he 
asked  his  disciples,  saying,  Whom  do  men  say  that  /,  the  Son  of 
Man,  am  ?  Atid  they  said,  Sojne  say  thou  art  John  the  Bap- 
tist ;  some,  Elias  ;  and  others,  Jeremias,  or  one  of  the  prophets. 
He  saith  unto  them.  But  who7n  say  ye  that  I  am  f  And  Simon 
Peter  answered  and  said,  Thou  art  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the 
living  Gody — MATTHEW  xvi.  13-16. 


III. 


THE  ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  PERSONAL- 
ITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

Nearly  nineteen  centuries  ago,  there  appeared  a 
new  moral  force  in  human  society,  the  most  wonder- 
ful phenomenon  in  all  human  history.  So  evident  is 
this,  that  time  is  measured  from  that  epoch,  the  world 
sets  its  clock  at  that  date,  and  every  letter  and  every 
contract  is  headed  ''Anno  Domini  " — the  year  of  our 
Lord. 

This  new  moral  force  has  deepened  and  widened 
and  gathered  momentum  with  the  centuries,  and  now 
is  the  colossal  miracle  of  the  ages  ;  leavening  society, 
permeating  literature,  the  inspiration  of  poetry  and 
art,  the  power  back  of  governments  and  thrones, 
the  civilizing  agency  in  all  lands,  the  dawning  of  the 
reign  of  peace  and  righteousness. 

This  marked  crisis  in  human  history,  when  proph- 
ecy culminated  and  a  new  religion,  called  Chris- 
tianity, took  form  and  began  its  world-wide  con- 
quests, focalized  in  the  Personality  of  Jesus  Christ, 
who  was  "  born  in  Bethlehem  in  Judea,  in  the  days 
of  Herod  the  king." 

85 


86    THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


To  be  "  born  "  sets  up  a  new  fact,  as  immortal  as 
God.  It  introduces  new  ministries  and  forces  in  the 
universe,  and  always  carries  with  it  responsibilities 
and  possibilities.  But  the  birth  of  Jesus  Christ  was 
unique,  and  attended  with  supernatural  signs — fore- 
announced  by  an  angel,  conceived  by  the  Holy 
Ghost,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  celebrated  by  the 
heavenly  host,  and  the  place  of  birth  indicated  by  the 
hovering  star.  Persian  astrologers  came  four  months' 
journey  to  see  the  One  who  was  born,  not  as  King  of 
the  Persians,  but  King  of  the  Jews,  and  "  they  wor- 
shipped Him."  Why  this  angel  ?  Why  this  miracu- 
lous conception  ?  Why  this  angelic  choir  and  guid- 
ing star  and  inquiring  priests  and  adoring  magi  ? 

Such  a  moral  force,  introduced  into  the  world  in 
such  a  strange  way,  leads  us  to  inquire.  Who  was 
Jesus  Christ?  What  is  His  personality?  What  is 
the  pov/er  of  His  character,  and  the  philosophy  of 
the  success  of  the  religion  He  founded? 

Christ  as  a  historical  personage  I  assume  as  a  fact 
generally  admitted.  I  base  this  fact,  however,  upon 
the  testimony  of  the  Gospel  records  as  historically 
true  (to  say  nothing  of  their  inspiration) ;  the  voice 
of  secular  historians,  such  as  Josephus,  Tacitus,  Pliny, 
Celsus,  Porphyry,  and  Julian  the  apostate ;  and  the 
origin  and  history  of  the  Christian  Church.  The 
same  argument  which  proves  the  existence  of  Caesar 
and  the  Roman  Empire,  Washington  and  the  United 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  8/ 

States,  also  proves  the  existence  of  Jesus  Christ  and 
the  Christian  Church. 

This  fact  of  a  historical  Christ  is  not  questioned 
by  any  intelligent  and  honest  scholar  or  historian. 
Nay  more,  they  admit  His  supreme  goodness  and 
greatness. 

Rousseau,  one  of  the  leaders  of  French  infidelity, 
says :  "  If  the  life  and  death  of  Socrates  were  those 
of  a  sage,  the  life  and  death  of  Jesus  Christ  are  those 
of  a  God." 

Goethe,  whom  we  do  not  at  all  regard  as  a  Chris- 
tian poet,  calls  Christ  "the  Divine  Man,"  "the  Holy 
One."  Thomas  Carlyle  calls  His  life  a  "  perfect  ideal 
poem,"  and  His  Person  "the  greatest  of  all  heroes." 
Renan,  who  views  Jesus  Christ  from  the  stand-point 
of  Pantheistic  naturalism,  and  expels  all  miracles  from 
the  Gospel  history,  says :  "  Whatever  may  be  the  sur- 
prises of  the  future,  Jesus  will  never  be  surpassed  "; 
"  All  ages  will  proclaim  that,  among  the  sons  of  men, 
there  is  none  born  greater  than  Jesus."  Strauss,  who 
has  written  one  of  the  strongest  works  against  the 
credibility  of  Gospel  history,  as  to  the  miraculous 
and  supernatural,  says :  "  To  have  religion  without 
Christ  would  be  as  absurd  as  to  enjoy  poetry  without 
regard  to  Homer  and  Shakespeare."  John  Stuart 
Mill  says :  "  Let  rational  criticism  take  from  us  what 
it  may,  it  still  leaves  us  the  Christ."  Christ  as  a  his- 
torical personage,  and  as  a  good  man  and  the  founder 


88     THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


of  the  Christian  religion,  is  not  the  issue  of  our  times, 
and  is  not  the  topic  of  debate  in  this  age. 

His  character — His  personality,  becomes  the  centre 
of  conflict,  and  the  strongest  and  surest  credential  in 
favor  of  the  Divine  origin  of  Christianity.  Hence  we 
inquire,  who  is  He  ? 

Jesus  Christ  is  the  central  fact  in  the  Christian 
Church  to-day.  We  differ  in  names,  confessions,  pol- 
ity, and  usages,  but  we  agree  in  our  love  and  adora- 
tion of  Jesus.  We  lay  down  our  differences  at  the 
Manger  of  Bethlehem  and  the  Cross  of  Calvary. 
Christ  is  the  Divine  harmony  of  all  human  sects  and 
creeds,  and  the  common  life-centre  of  all  Christians. 
Hence  we  are  all  equally  interested  in  this  question 
of  the  hour,  who  is  He  ? 

I  answer  in  brief  epitome  of  His  character.  He 
was  original^  consistent,  and  perfect ;  and  thus  lifted 
out  of  a  mere  human  life  or  realm.  He  stands  forth 
as  a  new  character  in  human  history.  Christ  is  man- 
hood at  its  climax. 

Neither  the  ages  prior,  nor  centuries  since,  have 
produced  His  equal.  He  is  the  head  of  a  new  race, 
the  crown  and  glory  of  creation. 

HIS  CHARACTER  WAS  ORIGINAL. 

The  creations  of  poetry,  the  systems  of  philosophy, 
the  works  of  fiction,  and  the  examples  in  real  life, 
find  no  parallel  to  Christ.    The  poet  must  be  greater 


TUB  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  89 

than  his  poem,  a  philosopher  than  his  theory,  the 
novelist  than  his  hero.  It  takes  more  than  a  Jesus 
to  invent  a  Jesus. 

Christ  was  not  born  in  the  poet's  fancy,  or  carved 
out  of  an  ideal  humanity,  or  developed  out  of  a  be- 
nevolent sentiment.  The  character  of  Christ  was  not 
an  invention,  a  fiction,  but  drawn  from  a  living  original. 

His  character  was  so  remote  from  the  ideas  and 
anticipations  of  His  times,  so  unfit  to  awaken  sym- 
pathy, so  unattractive  to  the  heathen,  so  exasperating 
to  the  Jews,  and  so  exposed  to  persecution  and  scorn, 
that  it  could  not  have  been  invented  and  assumed  by 
an  impostor.  For  a  selfish,  depraved,  and  designing 
mind  to  have  formed  the  idea  and  purpose  of  a  work 
of  such  beneficence,  vastness,  and  moral  grandeur 
would  be  to  contradict  all  the  laws  of  mind. 

To  conceive  such  a  character,  and  assume  it  and  act 
it  out  with  no  such  precedent,  and  to  be  true  to  the 
ideal,  to  throw  personality  into  it  and  wear  it  as  a  mask 
with  the  air  of  truth  and  reality  so  as  to  prevent  detec- 
tion, to  carry  out  the  drama  under  the  shadow  of  the 
Cross,  and  in  the  death  agony,  and  in  all  the  minute 
and  admirable  conduct  of  Jesus,  is  a  human  impossibil- 
ity.   His  character  must  have  been  real  and  original. 

HIS  CHARACTER  WAS  CONSISTENT. 

Firm,  without  harshness ;  zealous,  without  fanat- 
icism ;  gentle,  without  softness ;  forgiving,  yet  just ; 


90     THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

true,  yet  progressive;  dying  for  men,  yet  honoring 
the  m-ajesty  of  law.  He  knew  the  wickedness  of  men, 
yet  He  was  not  misanthropic.  Men  betrayed  Him 
and  despitefully  treated  Him  and  caused  Him  suffer- 
ing, yet  He  manifested  no  ill-will.  He  was  earnest 
without  being  fierce  ;  calm  without  being  dull.  There 
was  nothing  of  the  ascetic  about  Him.  He  was  not 
distant  and  morose,  yet  He  was  always  devotional. 
He  was  not  under  the  necessity  of  changing  His  mind. 
He  had  no  apologies  to  make.  Regrets  and  vain  de- 
sires He  had  not.  He  made  no  pretense.  He  put 
on  no  airs.  He  did  nothing  for  effect.  He  made  no 
harangues  about  the  grandeur  of  His  office  and  char 
acter.  He  had  no  feeling  of  caste.  He  was  the  friend 
of  sinners.  He  welcomed  the  poor  as  well  as  the  rich. 
He  was  respectful  to  the  great  and  considerate  to  the 
outcast.  Children  could  take  Him  by  the  hand,  and 
the  homage  of  kings  did  not  elate  Him.  He  is  not 
one-sided.  There  are  no  hills  and  valleys  in  His  char- 
acter,— extravagances  and  defects  to  mar  it.  He  is 
the  voice  of  goodness,  the  psalm  of  God." 

HIS  CHARACTER  WAS  PERFECT. 

His  morality  is  the  highest  standard  of  conduct  in 
all  literature  and  law.  His  spirit  has  made  music  for 
the  centuries.  His  actions  have  been  under  critical 
analysis  for  ages.  For  eighteen  centuries  the  world 
has  fixed  its  gaze  upon  this  one  person,  and  has  found 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


no  stain  on  His  character,  no  flaw  in  His  conduct,  no 
shadow  on  His  purity. 

"  We  had  often  wept 
Tears  of  delight  to  see  celestial  grace 
Struggling  and  triumphing  in  weakness ;  but 
Some  stains  had  even  with  the  saintliest  saints 
Blotted  the  story  of  their  lives  :  what  need 
To  speak  of  Noah  and  of  Abraham, 
Of  Moses,  David,  Hezekiah,  Job, 
Who  sometimes  trailed  their  garments  on  the  earth, 
Though  whiter  now  than  snow.    But  here  was  One 
In  human  weakness  sinless. 

No  stern  recluse 
As  His  forerunner,  but  the  guest  and  friend 
Of  all  who  sought  Him.    Mingling  with  all  life 
To  breathe  His  holiness  on  all.    No  film 
Obscured  His  spotless  lustre," — "Without  sin." 

Sixty-two  generations  have  passed  away  since  Christ 
appeared,  and  He  has  not  been  reproduced.  Repro- 
duction is  more  likely  than  original  invention.  Yet 
He  is  the  model  of  manhood,  the  cHmax  of  good- 
ness and  greatness.  He  is  the  one  personahty  who 
has  never  fallen  below  His  ideal.  This  has  a  Divine 
meaning.  This  awakens  honest  inquiry.  If  He  is  of 
the  race,  why  is  He  not  like  the  race?  The  glories 
of  heaven  radiate  around  His  spirit,  and  He  tarries 
among  us  as  one  whose  home  is  in  the  bosom  of 
God."  Hence  we  are  led  to  inquire  more  specifically 
into  His  personahty. 

Take  a  few  facts  in  His  character  and  life, — histor- 


92     THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

ical  facts, — and  put  them  together,  and  tell  me  what 
you  can  do  with  them. 

There  was  nothing  in  Christ's  early  life  favorable 
to  His  future  elevation.  The  family  from  which  He 
sprang  belonged  to  the  lower  ranks  of  society. 

His  home  in  Nazareth,  His  dependence  upon  His 
disciples  and  charity  of  friendvare  affecting  evidences 
of  His  poverty.  In  addition  to  humble  birth  and 
poverty,  it  must  be  taken  into  account  that  almost 
the  entire  life  of  Christ  was  spent  in  manual  labor. 
He  not  only  lived  with  Joseph  the  carpenter,  but 
actually  wrought  at  the  same  trade.  Mark  says  :  "  Is 
not  this  the  carpenter,  the  son  of  Mary?" 

Add  to  these  facts  of  humble  birth,  poverty,  and 
manual  labor  the  lack  of  formal  education.  Some 
of  His  countrymen,  when  they  heard  His  discourses, 
wondered  at  His  wisdom,  and  said  :  "  How  knoweth 
this  man  letters,  having  never  learned?"  Take  an- 
other fact.  The  time  spent  in  His  ministry  was  only 
three  short  years,  and  He  endured  the  opposition  of 
the  Jewish  nation  and  the  world,  which  resulted  in 
His  death  of  ignominy  on  the  cross. 

But  notwithstanding  all  this,  this  poor  artisan, — 
uneducated  and  despised  by  His  countrymen,  with- 
out army  or  civil  power  or  wealth, — founded  a  re- 
ligion that  has  outlived  all  philosophy,  and  is  the  con- 
quering power  of  earth  to-day.  How  do  you  account 
for  this  ?   Here  is  a  problem  scientific  scepticism  can't 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  93 

solve,  only  on  the  ground  that  there  was  a  divine  na- 
ture in  union  with  the  human.  His  humanity  can  not 
be  accounted  for  only  on  the  ground  of  His  divinity. 

In  addition  to  this  argument  of  His  humanity  being 
unaccountable,  except  on  the  ground  of  His  divinity, 
I  raise  another  question,  viz.,  AN  EXPLANATION  OF 
THE  DEATH-POWER  OF  JeSUS  ChRIST.  How  is  it 
that  the  death  of  Christ  (a  death  of  ignominy  on  the 
cross  as  a  malefactor)  has  been  an  ever-widening  circle 
of  influence  as  the  ages  come  and  go?  Death  ends 
other  men's  work,  and  too  often  their  influence,  and 
their  memory  fades.  History  only  memorializes  a 
few.  The  millions  are  sunk  into  oblivion  ;  but  Christ's 
death  gave  birth  to  a  moral  and  spiritual  power  that 
has  belted  the  globe,  and  is  the  regnant  principle  in 
society,  government,  and  civilization  to-day. 

If  Christ  is  DEAD,  why  don't  infidelity  let  Him  alone  ? 
Can  a  dead  man  win  conquests  ?  Napoleon  said : 
"  Can  you  conceive  of  Caesar  as  the  eternal  emperor 
of  the  Roman  Senate,  and  from  the  depths  of  his 
mausoleum  governing  the  empire  and  watching  over 
the  destinies  of  Rome?"  But  from  Calvary  there 
goes  forth  a  living  power,  flying  upon  rapid  wing, 
treading  with  royal  step,  difl"usive  as  the  light,  re- 
freshing as  the  rain,  and  scattering  seeds  of  blessing 
everywhere,  which  take  root  and  bloom  in  beauty, 
and  yield  an  immortal  harvest.  Is  Christ  dead  ?  Is 
the  cross  the  end  of  His  humble,  despised,  and  per- 


94     THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

secuted  life?  If  His  humanity,  so  obscure,  was  unac- 
countable, what  shall  I  say  of  His  death  on  the  cross, 
which  has  become  the  inspiration  and  hope  of  the 
millions  since  ?  The  simple  humanity  and  the  death- 
power  of  Jesus  Christ  are  mountain  bowlders  in  the 
pathway  of  Unitarian  theology. 

Christ  must  be  accounted  for.  You  must  explain 
this  unique  Humanity  and  this  mysterious  death. 
Do  nothing  in  the  world  and  nobody  will  care  who 
you  are  and  whence  you  came.  If  you  do  not  intro- 
duce some  new  force  in  society  or  throw  some  new 
light  on  the  path  of  life,  there  is  nothing  to  be  ac- 
counted for,  and  the  world  will  not  care  who  you  are. 
But  challenge  the  thinking  of  the  times  ;  put  truth 
in  new  phases  and  aspects  before  the  intellect  of  the 
age ;  startle  the  world  by  attacking  its  traditions  and 
customs  and  prejudices,  and  then  how  soon  peo- 
ple will  begin  to  say,  "  Who  are  you  ?  By  what  au- 
thority doest  thou  these  things?"  Pretenders  may 
resort  to  this  process ;  and  this  is  the  modern  way  for 
shallow  characters  to  gain  notoriety,  and  their  only 
hope  of  popularity  is  singularity.  But  Christ  was  a 
true  reformer.  He  became  the  problem  of  all  time. 
Even  to-day,  while  men  reject  His  claims,  they  call 
Him  back  to  ask  Him  further  questions.  Christ  is 
not  a  matter  of  abstraction  and  metaphysics,  but 
personality.  Christianity  is  Christ.  He  must  be  ac 
counted  for,  not  Christianity  


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  95 

There  are  various  hypotheses  as  to  Christ. 

Various  attempts  have  been  made  to  explain  the 
secret  of  His  power  and  the  mystery  of  His  person- 
ality.   I  might  name  some  of  these  in  passing. 

I.— THE  MYTHICAL  HYPOTHESIS. 

It  does  not  deny  the  historical  existence  of  Christ, 
but  admits  Him  to  have  been  a  religious  genius 
and  the  founder  of  a  religious  system  ;  yet  it  re- 
solves all  the  supernatural  and  miraculous  elements 
of  Christ's  person  and  history  into  myths.  "  A  myth 
differs  from  a  fable,  which  is  a  fictitious  story  based 
upon  impossibilities,  such  as  an  inanimate  object 
speaking  and  acting;  also  it  differs  from  a  parable, 
which  is  a  fictitious  narrative  based  upon  possibilities, 
but  not  intrinsically  truthful,  and  may  illustrate  a 
spiritual  truth.  A  myth  is  unconsciously  produced 
with  simple  faith  in  the  actual  occurrence  of  the 
story."  Hence  we  are  told  that  the  mytho-poetical 
faculty  invented  the  miracles  and  ascribed  them  to 
Jesus. 

But  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  our  Lord  did  not 
live  in  fabulous,  but  historical  times,  in  which  Grecian 
culture  and  literature  were  widely  diffused,  and  in 
which  the  Roman  government  had  introduced  settled 
laws  and  means  of  communication.  The  four  Gospels 
are,  on  the  very  face  of  them,  histories.  They  record 
what  transpired  before  Pharisees  and  Sadducees ;  be- 


96     THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

fore  Herod  and  Pilate;  before  Jews  and  Romans; 
friends  and  foes  in  Galilee,  and  Samaria,  and  Judea; 
making  references  to  chronology,  geography,  archae- 
ology, and  secular  history  as  confirmations  of  their 
facts ;  and  thus  are  as  fully  attested  as  histories  as 
any  other  history  in  the  world.  Beside  the  very  style 
and  construction  of  the  Gospels,  the  absence  of  any 
poetic  art  or  traces  of  a  fervid  imagination,  preclude 
the  idea  of  myths. 

II.— THE  LEGENDARY  HYPOTHESIS. 

This  differs  from  the  mythical  theory  in  that  it 
admits  in  substance  the  historic  books,  and  that  Jesus 
spake  and  acted  very  much  as  stated  in  the  narratives, 
but  culls  and  collects  from  the  four  Gospels  materials 
for  a  biography  or  legend  of  Christ,  which  it  chooses 
to  call  the  Fifth  Gospel.  But  in  doing  this  it  gives 
us  an  inconsistent  character,  making  Christ  a  senti- 
mentalist, an  enthusiast,  a  fanatic,  an  impostor,  a  wise 
rabbi,  an  unequaled  saint,  and  an  incarnate  God.  The 
Jesus  of  Renan  is  a  moral  monstrosity  and  an  ab- 
surdity. 

III. — HYPOTHESIS  OF  TENDENCY,  OR  THE  TUBINGEN 
THEORY, 

(so  called  because  taught  by  Dr.  Baur,  professor  of 
Church  History  in  Tubingen).  This  resolves  the 
New  Testament  writings  into     tendency  books," 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  97 

written  in  the  interest  of  contending  parties  of  the 
Apostolic  Age,  and  aims  at  a  reconstruction  of  the 
History  of  Primitive  Christianity  on  the  basis  of  pan- 
theistic intellectualism. 

It  assumes  that  Christ  lived,  taught,  and  died,  but 
that  no  record  of  His  history  was  thought  of  until 
after  the  second  century.  Then  arose  Gospels  or 
memoirs,  with  the  bias  of  the  writer  stamped  upon 
them. 

Hence,  Christ  becomes  the  simple  expression  of  a 
human  ideal,  the  incarnation  of  the  Pantheistic  God, 
who  is  forever  evolved  in  consciousness.  This  theory 
makes  Paul  the  real  founder  of  the  Christian  system. 

The  mythical  theory  of  Strauss,  the  legendary 
theory  of  Renan,  the  tendency  theory  of  Baur,  are  all 
of  them  applications  of  the  development  theory  of 
the  explanation  of  the  New  Testament  literature.  It 
was  supposed,  until  recently,  that  the  earliest  date  to 
which  we  could  trace  New  Testament  literature  was 
between  180  and  200 ''Anno  Domini."  Hence,  be- 
tween 34,  the  date  of  the  crucifixion,  and  200,  there 
was  time  for  myths  and  legends  to  spring  up,  and  for 
the  disciples  to  weave  about  the  idolized  memory  of 
their  Lord  those  exaggerations  which  were  mistaken 
for  history. 

The  whole  controversy  concerning  the  origin  of 
the  canonical  gospels  and  the  date  of  the  epistles  has 
assumed  a  new  phase  in  these  days  of  historical 
5 


98     THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST 

research.  History  comes  to  our  rescue,  and  brings 
down  the  date  of  New  Testament  literature  to  58. 
How  do  we  know  this?  Take  a  few  historic  facts. 
Nero  died  in  68.  When  did  Paul  die?  Under  Nero. 
Hence  he  could  not  have  died  later  than  68.  When 
did  Paul  write  his  epistles  ?  Before  he  died.  There- 
fore before  68.  Festus  succeeded  Felix  in  the  gov- 
ernment of  Judea  in  60.  Paul  was  imprisoned  in 
Csesarea  two  years  before  Festus  succeeded  Felix, 
and  he  wrote  these  epistles  when  imprisoned.  Hence 
we  can  bring  the  youngest  of  the  epistles  down  to  58. 

Now  from  34  to  58,  the  space  of  twenty-four  years, 
is  not  time  for  myths  to  grow  up  and  be  mistaken  for 
history.  Paul's  testimony  is  contemporary  evidence. 
New  Testament  literature  touches  the  facts  and  has 
all  the  characteristics  of  historical  verity.  Myths  and 
legends  have  too  narrow  a  strip  of  time  to  grow 
upon. 

-  IV. — THE  UNITARIAN  THEORY, 
which  admits  the  perfection  of  Christ's  character  and 
the  truthfulness  of  the  Gospel  history,  yet  denies  His 
Divinity. 

It  honors  Christ  "  as  the  Son,  representative  and 
image  of  the  Supreme  God,  but  does  not  honor  Him 
as  God."  The  Deity  of  Christ  it  disowns.  It  goes 
so  far  as  to  admit  that  "  in  Christ's  words  we  hear 
God  speaking;  in  His  miracles  we  behold  God  act- 
ing; in  His  character  and  life  we  see  an  unsullied 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  99 

image  of  God's  purity  and  love  " — and  yet  He  was 
not  God.  Dr.  Joseph  Parker  says:  "If  God  came 
into  Christ  as  a  separate  and  a  human  being,  incar- 
nated Himself  in  a  creature  precisely  like  myself, 
and  standing  on  a  level  with  myself,  and  left 
me  out,  and  then  speaks  to  me  through  the  man 
He  has  thus  made  His  own  tabernacle,  insults  my 
reason,  annoys  my  sense  of  justice,  and  savors  of 
invidiousness  which  does  not  become  an  impartial 
God." 

But  take  the  Gospel  method — Christ  begotten  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  conceived  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  the 
Divine  and  human  in  one  person — and  it  satisfies  a 
want  in  the  human  mind,  and  I  can  adore  the  in- 
carnate God.  The  Unitarian  theory  admits  too  much 
for  its  own  conclusions,  and  is  driven  to  the  logical 
alternative  of  falling  back  upon  an  infidel  or  advanc- 
ing to  an  orthodox  Christology.  Theodore  Parker 
felt  this  and  gave  up  the  supernatural  altogether, 
and  Channing,  under  the  love  of  Christ,  was  inclined 
to  the  other  alternative,  for  he  says  :  I  confess  when 
I  escape  the  deadening  power  of  habit  and  receive 
the  full  import  of  such  passages  as  these, '  Come  unto 
Me  and  I  will  give  you  rest,'  '  I  am  come  to  seek  and 
save  the  lost,'  etc.,  I  am  awed  by  the  consciousness 
of  greatness  which  those  simple  words  express,  and 
when  I  connect  this  greatness  with  Christ's  miracles, 
I  am   compelled  to   exclaim  with  the  Centurion, 


lOO    THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


'  Truly  this  was  the  Son  of  God.' "  In  his  last 
address,  delivered  a  short  time  before  his  death,  he 
said :  The  doctrine  of  the  Word  made  flesh  shows 
us  God  uniting  Himself  intimately  with  our  nature, 
manifesting  Himself  in  a  human  form,  for  the  very 
end  of  making  us  partakers  of  His  own  perfection." 

v.— THE  ORTHODOX  THEORY, 

which  claims  that  Christ  was  "very  man  and. very 
God,"  yet  one  person.  This  theory  can  only  account 
for  the  TWO  NATURES,  so  generally  ascribed  to  Him 
in  the  New  Testament.  This  alone  explains  His 
Divine-human  self-consciousness,  which  is  the  key  to 
His  personality  and  the  golden  thread  running 
through  all  His  words  and  deeds. 

Christ  was  but  one  person.  There  is  the  absence 
of  a  twofold  personality  in  Christ.  He  always  says 
''I,"  ''Me,"  ''Mine."  Yet  He  speaks  and  acts  as 
MAN  and  speaks  and  acts  as  GOD.  His  claim  to 
Humanity  is  not  doubted.  So  then  the  question  of 
His  Personality  is  explained  if  we  can  show  He  had 
a  Divine-human  character  and  a  Divine-human  con- 
sciousness. 

Can  we  sustain  this  proposition  ?  I  now  raise  this 
question.  What  did  Christ  claim  for  Himself?  What 
is  Christ's  testimony  concerning  Himself  ?  The  Apos- 
tolic testimony  has  been  considered.  So  I  shall  con- 
fine myself  to  His  personal  claim. 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  loi 

Take  a  few  of  His  metaphorical  expressions. 
"  I  am  the  light  of  the  world."  Light  takes  no  room, 
yet  fills  all  space ;  warms  the  planets,  yet  does  not 
crush  a  twig.  "  I  am  the  door."  Welcome,  hospi- 
tality, home,  warmth,  honor,  sonship,  are  all  implied 
by  the  word  door.  "  I  am  the  bread  of  life."  "  I  am 
the  good  shepherd."  "  I  am  the  way."  "  I  am  the 
truth."  "  I  am  the  life."  How  any  being  not  con- 
scious of  supernatural  and  Divine  power  can  talk  this 
way  I  can  not  understand.  If  He  is  not  Divine  His 
ambition  and  presumption  and  egotism  are  beyond 
limit. 

Add  to  these  metaphorical  expressions  His  utter- 
ances and  acts  which  show  He  was  CONSCIOUS  OF 
MIRACULOUS  POWER.  He  speaks  to  the  winds  and 
waves,  "  Be  still,"  and  there  is  a  great  calm ;  to  the 
sick,  "  Be  healed,"  and  they  are  restored  to  health  ;  to 
the  dead  son  of  the  widow  of  Nain,  "  Arise,"  and  he 
was  given  back  to  his  mother  alive ;  to  Lazarus,  who 
had  been  dead  four  days,  "Come  forth,"  and  he 
arose.  If  Christ  was  not  conscious  of  Divine  power 
He  must  have  been  insane  to  have  talked  in  this 
way.  But  more  than  this,  He  claimed  DiVINE  AT- 
TRIBUTES. Such  as  Eternity— "  Before  Abraham 
was  I  am."  ''I  am  the  first  and  the  last."  "Oh, 
Father,  glorify  Thou  me  with  the  glory  which  I  had 
with  Thee  before  the  world  was."  Omnipotence— 
"  All  power  is  given  unto  me  in  heaven  and  earth." 


102    THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


"  As  the  Father  raiseth  up  the  dead  and  quickeneth 
them,  even  so  the  Son  of  Man  quickeneth  whom  He 
will."  Omnipresence — "Where  two  or  three  are 
gathered  together  in  my  name  there  am  I  in  their 
midst."  Lo,  I  am  with  you  always."  "  No  man 
hath  ascended  up  to  heaven,  but  he  that  came  down 
from  heaven,  even  the  Son  of  Man  who  is  in  heaven." 
Omniscience — "  No  man  knoweth  who  the  Father  is 
but  the  Son."  He  allowed  Peter  to  say  to  Him, 
Lord,  Thou  knoweth  all  things,"  and  did  not  rebuke 
him  for  his  error. 

When  I  thus  hear  Him  in  His  own  words  claiming 
Eternity,  Omnipotence,  Omnipresence,  Omniscience, 
attributes  which  only  Diety  can  possess,  I  must  admit 
His  Divine  claim  and  Divine  consciousness,  or  ques- 
tion His  honesty  and  truthfulness. 

But  more  than  this.  He  accepted  the  TITLE  AND 
WORSHIP  OF  God.  Thomas  called  Him  "  My  Lord 
and  my  God,"  and  He  did  not  rebuke  Thomas  for 
his  blasphemy.  Stephen  called  Him  "  Lord."  Christ 
said  Himself,  "  He  that  hath  seen  me  hath  seen  the 
Father."  "Ye  call  me  Master  and  Lord,  and  ye  say 
well,  for  so  I  am."  He  was  also  WORSHIPPED  AS 
God.  "  When  God  bringeth  in  the  first  begotten 
into  the  world.  He  saith,  let  all  the  angels  of  God 
•  worship  Him."  When  He  appeared  to  the  eleven 
disciples  in  the  mountain  of  Galike  after  the  resur- 
rection, "They  worshipped  Him"  (Matt,  xxviii.  17). 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  103 

Why  let  them  be  idolaters  ?  Why  lead  them  away 
from  the  worship  of  the  one  God  ?  For  He  Himself 
said  to  Satan  in  the  wilderness  temptation,  "  Thou 
shalt  worship  the  Lord  thy  God  and  Him  only  shalt 
thou  serve."  Why  not  say  to  these  worshipping 
disciples,  as  Peter  did  to  Cornelius,  who  cast  himself 
at  the  feet  of  the  disciple  to  worship,  "  Stand  up ;  I 
myself  am  also  a  man." 

Consider  another  fact.  He  FORGAVE  SINS.  He 
said  unto  the  w^oman  who  came  into  the  house  of 
Simon  the  Pharisee,  where  He  sat  at  meat,  and  knelt 
at  His  feet  and  washed  them  with  her  tears  and 
wiped  them  with  the  hairs  of  her  head :  "  Woman, 
thy  sins,  which  are  many,  are  all  forgiven  thee." 
Also  when  the  man  sick  of  the  palsy  was  brought  to 
Him,  He  said :  "  Son,  thy  sins  be  forgiven  thee." 
The"  scribes  said  :  "  Why  does  this  man  speak  blas- 
phemy? Who  can  forgive  sins  but  God?"  Jesus 
said  :  "  That  ye  may  know  that  the  Son  of  Man  hath 
power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins,  I  say  unto  thee  (the 
sick  man)  arise,  take  up  thy  bed  and  walk,  and  imme- 
diately he  arose  and  went  forth  healed." 

Consider  also  the  PROPHECY  and  FACT  OF  His 
RESURRECTION.  "  Destroy  this  temple,  and  in  three 
days  I  will  build  it  again."  I  have  power  to  lay 
down  my  life  and  power  to  take  it  up  again." 

In  view  of  this  prophecy,  His  enemies  made  sure 
of  His  death,  and  sealed  and  guarded  His  tomb. 


104  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

Yet  He  who  has  the  keys  of  death  and  hell,  on  the 
morning  of  the  third  day,  unlocked  the  tomb  and 
came  forth,  conqueror  over  the  grave,  with  death  and 
hell  chained  to  His  chariot  wheels,  and  thus  has 
given  us  proof  of  immortal  life. 

To  all  these  facts  of  Divine  consciousness ;  expres- 
sions and  acts  manifesting  miraculous  power ;  claims 
to  Divine  attributes;  acceptance  of  Divine  titles  and 
worship ;  forgiving  sins ;  the  prophecy  and  fact  of 
His  own  resurrection,  add  one  more,  viz. :  THE 
PROMISE  AND  FACT  OF  THE  HOLY  SPIRIT.  It  is 
expedient  for  you  that  I  go  away,  for  if  I  go  not 
away  the  Comforter  will  not  come  unto  you."  ^'  Be- 
hold, I  send  the  promise  of  my  Father  upon  you." 
"Ye  shall  receive  power  after  that  the  Holy  Ghost  is 
come  upon  you,  and  ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me." 
"  He  (that  is,  the  Holy  Ghost)  shall  testify  of  me." 
Now  has  Christ  living  witnesses  ?  Was  Pentecost  a 
passing  wonder?  Was  the  Church  a  mere  formal  and 
human  institution?  Answer,  ye  millions  of  decided 
conversions.  Answer,  ye  humble,  consistent  Christian 
lives.    Answer,  ye  triumphant  death-beds. 

In  addition  to  all  this,  we  have  Christ's  direct  per- 
sonal claim  to  Messiahship  on  several  occasions, 
two  of  which  I  will  name.  He  asked  Peter:  "Whom 
say  that  I  am  ? "  He  had  heard  the  world's 
opinion;  that  of  the  Church  should  be  more  direct. 
"  Whom  say  fe  that  I  am  ?  "    Peter  said  :  "  Thou  art 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  105 

the  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  living  God."  Jesus  an- 
swered and  said  unto  him  :  "  Blessed  art  thou,  Simon 
Bar-jo-na ;  for  flesh  and  blood  hath  not  revealed  it 
unto  thee,  but  my  Father  who  is  in  heaven." 

When  before  Cai-a-phas,  the  high-priest,  he  was 
placed  upon  oath,  or  at  least  a  formula  of  adjuration 
was  used,  which  in  law  was  sufificient  to  constitute  a 
regular  oath :  "  I  adjure  thee  by  the  living  God,  that 
thou  tell  us  whether  thou  be  the  Christ,  the  Son  of 
God?"  St.  Mark  tells  us  Jesus  answered:  ''I  AM." 
The  high-priest  rent  his  clothes  and  said  :  "  What 
need  we  of  any  further  witnesses ;  ye  have  heard  his 
blasphemy."  Thus  His  enemies  admit  that  He 
claimed  iMessiahship  and  Divinity,  and  thus  they 
accused  Him  of  blasphemy.  This  testimony  and 
oath  resulted  in  His  death.  He  calmly  and  decidedly 
claimed  a  Divine  consciousness  as  well  as  the  human, 
as  a  faithful  witness  and  in  the  face  of  death. 

Now  then,  in  view  of  this  array  of  evidence — and 
it.could  be  greatly  increased  and  strengthened  if  time 
would  permit — we  can  not  question  the  fact  that 
Christ  possessed  a  Divine-human  consciousness.  He 
claimed  a  Divine  as  well  as  a  human  nature  in  the 
one  person.  His  humility  and  holiness  and  sinless- 
ness  and  purity  of  character  can  not  stand  if  we  deny 
His  Divinity.  If  He  is  not  Divine  His  ambition  was 
beyond  limit.  He  carried  the  sin  of  falsehood  and 
blasphemy  to  a  higher  degree  than  any  mortal.  He 

5* 


I06    THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHBIST. 


deluded  millions  of  people,  and  made  them  idolaters. 
We  can  not  avoid  the  strong  conclusion  of  the  author 
of  "  Ecce  Deus  If  He  is  not  God  He  is  the 
devil." 

The  consistency  of  His  life  and  character  compel 
us  to  conclude  that  Christ  was  a  Divine-human 
Saviour,  in  keeping  with  His  own  claims  and  the 
Divine-human  consciousness  which  was  manifested  in 
His  words  and  deeds. 

It  is  not  enough  for  us  to  have  only  a  historic 
Christ,  a  theoretical  Christ,  a  Divine-human  Christ,  a 
painted  Christ.  We  are  mocked  by  His  figure ;  we 
are  saved  by  His  personality.  His  example  may  be 
perfect,  claiming  the  admiration  of  the  ages ;  His 
ethics  may  be  the  highest  standard  of  conduct  and 
the  model  for  human  action ;  His  death  may  be  in- 
fluential and  expiatory ;  His  ashes  not  yet  cold,  and 
His  cross  His  real  throne  of  empire.  Yet  these  must 
not  be  separated  from  His  person.  We  can  not  wor- 
ship an  abstraction  or  love  an  ideal  truth.  A  prop- 
osition can  not  win  my  affection,  nor  a  problem 
comfort  my  life.  I  must  have  a  person  whom  I  can 
love  and  adore.  I  must  have  an  incarnation,  and  not 
a  theophany. 

A  theophany  is  impersonal,  vague,  and  lacks  dura- 
bility. A  Divine  appearance  or  manifestation  may 
pass  away. 

The  invisible  and  incorporeal  Deity  I  can  not  com- 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST.  107 

prehend.  The  vastness  of  Deity  oppresses  me.  The 
incarnation  meets  a  want  in  the  human  mind. 

The  God-man  is  the  central  demand  of  my  soul. 
Not  the  doctrines  of  Christ,  or  the  example  of  Christ, 
or  the  death  of  Christ,  valuable  as  these  may  be  in 
their  sphere,  but  the  person  of  Christ. 

Hence,  He  does  not  invite  me  to  a  study  of  His 
philosophy,  but  to  Himself.  ^'  Come  unto  me  and  I 
will  give  you  rest."  He  says,  "  Believe  in  me," — not 
in  my  philosophy  or  something  about  me  or  concern- 
ing me,  but    Believe  in  ME  and  thou  shalt  be  saved." 

Christ  is  greater  than  any  definition — no  formulae 
or  creed  can  express  His  Personality.  Christ  can  not 
be  separated  from  Christianity,  making  it  a  system  of 
philosophy  You  can  gain  an  idea  of  the  phi- 
losophy of  Aristotle  without  any  knowledge  of  his 
person  and  character. 

You  may  separate  Aristotle  from  his  philosophy  and 
it  will  not  suffer  any  loss — will  be  none  the  less  true 
and  effective.  Not  so  with  the  doctrines  of  Chris- 
tianity ;  they  run  into  and  end  with  Christ.  If  you 
speak  of  the  doctrine  of  sin,  it  was  that  dark  fact  that 
brought  Him  into  the  world  and  to  the  cross;  of 
atonement,  He  is  its  sacrifice  ;  of  Christian  faith,  He 
is  its  object ;  of  justification,  He  is  the  ground  of  it ; 
of  sanctification.  He  is  the  pattern  and  source  of  it ;  of 
the  resurrection.  He  is  its  pledge ;  of  the  judgment, 
He  is  the  appointed  Judge  ;  and  of  heaven,  He  is  its 


io8    THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 


central  glory  Even  His  gifts  and  blessings  of 

peace  and  joy  and  hope  will  not  suffice.  We  must 
have  the  Giver. 

"  Thy  gifts,  alas  !  can  not  suffice 
Unless  Thyself  be  given  ! 
Thy  presence  makes  my  paradise, 
And  where  Thou  art  is  Heaven." 

I  call  you  to-night  to  this  living  personal  Christ. 
Will  you  exchange  Him  for  some  other  master? 
Will  you  prefer  other  fellowship  ?  Then  you  will 
find  your  inner  life  barren.  The  sun  will  bring  you 
no  morning,  and  the  promises  of  life  will  have  no 
answer.  To  whom  can  you  tell  your  sin  ?  To  whom 
offer  your  prayers  ?  When  you  stand  in  absolute 
solitude,  deprived  of  human  help  and  not  an  angel- 
watcher  about  you,  how  will  you  pass  the  valley  of 
shadows  without  this  blessed  Christ  ? 

Welcome  Him  to  your  heart  and  life.  His  pres- 
ence will  never  cast  a  gloom  over  your  soul,  or  be  a 
burden  to  your  life,  or  dash  one  cup  of  real  pleasure 
from  your  hand.  He  will  never  leave  a  human  heart 
because  He  is  tired  of  it,  or  because  He  has  expended 
too  much  love  upon  it.  Yet  He  can  be  entreated  to 
go,  scourged  away,  banished.  May  the  blessed  Christ 
become  your  personal  Saviour,  and  a  vital  union  be 
formed  between  you  and  Him  as  imperishable  as  His 
love. 

In  conclusion,  we  have  hope  in  Him,  and  look  for- 


THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST  109 

ward  in  full  assurance  of  faith  to  the  fulfilling  of  the 
glowing  prophecy,  "And  on  His  head  were  many 
crowns." 

See  the  grand  procession  gathering  to  the  corona- 
tion !  Astronomy,  whose  guiding  star  led  the  East- 
ern magi  to  Bethlehem  manger  to  worship  the  new- 
born King,  now  draws  nigh  to  crown  Him,  saying, 
"  The  heavens  are  the  work  of  Thy  hand  ;  the  moon 
and  stars  Thou  hast  ordained." 

Geology  at  first  startled  the  faith  of  the  saints, 
but  such  men  as  Hugh  Miller,  Buckland,  and  Dana, 
have  found  the  truth  of  God  carved  on  the  rocks, 
and  now  Geology  draws  nigh  to  crown  Him,  saying, 
"Of  old  didst  Thou  lay  the  foundations  of  the  earth ; 
the  strength  of  the  hills  is  also  Thine." 

Art  comes  with  her  tributes.  Painting  furnishes 
the  "  Last  Supper,"  "  The  Transfiguration,"  "  The 
Ascension,"  and  the  "  Light  of  the  World."  Sculp- 
ture crowns  her  pedestal  with  Thorwaldsen's  Christ, 
or  fills  her  niches  with  apostles.  Architecture,  with 
Norman  arches  and  Corinthian  capitals,  lifts  its  mas- 
sive structures,  and  points  its  spires  in  honor  of  the 
risen,  living  Lord.  Science  becomes  His  handmaid, 
and  literature  a  priestess  at  His  altars. 

Poetry,  with  its  gems  ;  and  music,  with  its  songs, 
proclaim  Him  King  of  saints.  The  rich,  with  their 
gifts  like  precious  spikenard,  and  the  poor,  with  their 
hearts'  oblation,  worship  at  His  feet.    "And  after 


1 10   THE  PERSONALITY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST. 

this  I  beheld,  and  lo,  a  great  multitude  which  no  man 
could  number,  of  all  nations  and  kindreds  and  people 
and  tongues,  stood  before  the  throne  and  the  Lamb, 
clothed  with  white  robes,  and  palms  in  their  hands, 
and  cried  with  a  loud  voice,  saying,  Salvation  to  our 
Lord  which  sitteth  upon  the  throne,  and  unto  the 
Lamb." 


IV. 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST— DUTY, 
LOYALTY  TO  JESUS. 


Rev.  J.  G.  MERRILL. 


"  Why  askest  Thou  me  concerning  that  which  is  good?  One 

there  is  who  is  good  Come  ;  follow  tne." — Matthew 

xix.  17-21. 


IV. 


THE  ETHICS         CHRIST— DUTY,  LOY- 
ALTY TO  JESUS. 

The  subject  upon  which  I  am  to  address  you  is 
the  ethical  argument  for  our  blessed  religion  from 
the  nature  of  the  doctrine  of  Jesus. 

As  an  expression  of  the  truths  involved  in  my 
theme,  I  have  chosen  the  words  of  my  text,  which, 
as  found  in  the  Revision,  contain  a  question,  cover- 
ing the  whole  matter  involved,  "  Why  askest  thou 
me  concerning  that  which  is  good?"  a  statement, 
implying  all  that  can  be  said  upon  our  theme,  "  One 
there  is  who  is  good,"  and  a  command,  which,  rightly 
interpreted,  expresses  the  conception  which  Jesus 
had  of  the  whole  duty  of  man  ;  a  command  of  two 
words,    Follow  me." 

And  these  words  warrant  the  statement  that  I 
would  make  and  which  I  would  try  to  maintain,  that 
duty  in  its  last  analysis  is  loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ. 
This  it  seems  to  me  is  the  loftiest  ethics  which  the 
human  heart  can  conceive  of,  and  as  such  affords  an 
impregnable  argument  for  the  verity  of  our  religion. 

It  may  be  well  to  pause  a  moment  to  consider  the 

(113) 


1 14  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 

circumstances  which  surround  our  text.  An  impetu- 
ous young  man,  attractive  in  appearance,  of  good 
rank  in  society,  exemplary  in  behavior,  seized  with  a 
desire  to  question  Jesus,  concerning  the  meaning  and 
mystery  of  Hfe,  thrusts  himself  into  the  presence  of 
the  Master  with  the  question,  What  good  thing 
shall  I  do  that  I  may  have  eternal  life  ?"  This  ques- 
tion at  first  blush  appears  eminently  proper,  but  it 
was  evidently  very  objectionable  to  Him,  who  reads 
the  human  heart  and  knows  the  logical  result  of  hu- 
man thinking. 

It  is  not  to  the  point  to  consider  all  that  our  Lord 
was  displeased  with  in  this  question,  nor  all  the  re- 
proofs implied  in  His  reply.  It  is  sufficient  to  ob- 
serve that  He  called  out  from  the  young  man  an 
expression  of  fealty  to  the  high  ethical  code  given 
upon  Sinai,  and  secured  also  from  him  the  gratifying 
statement  that  his  life  had  been  shaped  by  that  law. 

But  this  was  not  enough.  The  young  man  would 
do  something  more  heroic  than  obedience  to  the 
moral  law  implies.  Jesus  takes  him  on  his  own 
ground  and  adds  a  high  requisition,  which  He  evi- 
dently saw  would  cut  to  the  depths  the  latent  evil  in 
the  heart  of  His  inquirer,  assuring  him  that  if  this 
could  be  met  his  coveted  aim  would  be  gained,  and 
then  He  adds  the  two  words,  which,  as  I  have  before 
said,  sum  up  all,  "  Follow  me." 

But  before  entering  into  an  analysis  of  this  divine 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST.  1 1 5 

code,  I  would  ask  you  to  review  briefly  the  different 
elements  involved  in  the  term  ethics. 

The  varied  schemes  which  have  hitherto  held  sway 
in  men's  thinking  are  five  in  number,  and  can  be  traced 
to  the  leading  faculties  of  the  mind. 

The  first  and  lowest,  but  perhaps  most  common,  is 
grounded  upon  the  sensibilities.  To  be  happy  is  the 
highest  good.  The  love  of  pleasure  is  the  controlling 
emotion.  This  may  express  itself  in  the  old  maxim, 
"  Live  while  you  live,"  or  the  other,  "  Eat,  drink,  for 
to-morrow  we  die  ";  or  it  may  rise  higher  and  adopt 
the  code  of  Aristotle,  that  moderation  is  the  great 
virtue ;  or  higher  still,  the  doctrine  of  Paley,  who 
made  future  eternal  happiness  the  highest  good, — one 
and  all  unworthy  as  an  ultimate  in  morals,  for  the 
human  mind  can  only  be  satisfied  as  happiness  is 
made  an  incident,  not  an  end. 

There  are,  as  you  know,  stars  so  distant  that  He 
alone  can  see  them  who  looks  indirectly  at  the  point 
in  the  heavens  where  they  are  to  be  found ;  to  look 
directly  is  to  gaze  at  a  blank  space.  In  some  such 
way  happiness  eludes  those  who  go  directly  toward 
it ;  is  found  by  those  who  are  looking  higher. 

A  second  form  of  ethics  is  called  utilitarianism.  It 
has  its  home  in  that  faculty  of  the  mind  which  some 
philosophers  call  the  understanding.  He  is  the  most 
profound  man  in  ethics  of  this  class  who  is  the  most 
shrewd  in  the  calculation  of  chances.    The  mistake 


1 16  THi:  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 

which  underlies  such  a  philosophy  can  be  seen  in  the 
fact  that,  as  has  been  said,  if  ability  is  goodness  then 
the  locomotive  is  a  very  holy  machine,  and  an  Elgin 
watch  is  a  very  saintly  production.  This  is  the  shal- 
low and  perverse  ethics  of  much  of  the  so-called  scien- 
tific thinking  of  the  age.    Its  fruitage  is  moral  death. 

A  third  form  of  ethics  is  based  upon  the  exercise 
of  that  faculty  of  the  mind  by  which  we  do  our  ab- 
stract thinking.  Philosophers  differ  in  the  names 
they  give  this  glorious  endowment.  I  have  perhaps 
designated  it  sufficiently.  This  is  an  exalted  sphere 
in  which  to  move.  They  who  dwell  in  it  live  above 
the  storms  of  life  on  a  pacific  sea.  It  is  a  transcen- 
dental life.  But  that  it  does  not  necessarily  touch 
our  ethical  being,  can  be  seen  in  the  fact  that  by  it 
wisdom  is  virtue  and  the  philosopher  is  the  saint. 
Such  a  philosophy  has  its  sphere  as  a  means  ;  to  make 
it  an  end  is  to  call  dreaming  the  highest  type  of  living. 

A  fourth  form  of  ethics  may  be  called  the  ethics  of 
conscience.  Duty  is  everything.  To  do  that  which  is 
right  is  the  highest  aim  under  this  code.  It  seems 
almost  sacrilegious  to  say  aught  against  such  a  lofty 
aim  in  life,  and  no  one  should  dare  say  aught  which 
would  lessen  fealty  to  conscience  or  devotion  to  duty; 
it  is  only  when  duty  usurps  the  place  of  that  which  is 
above  it  that  we  should  dethrone  it. 

The  thirteenth  chapter  of  ist  Corinthians,  with  its 
unrivalled  rhetoric,  makes  most  strongly  the  case 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST.  1 17 

against  the  supremacy  of  duty.  "  If  I  bestow  all  my 
goods  to  feed  the  poor,  and  if  I  give  my  body  to  be 
burned,  but  have  not  love,  it  profiteth  me  nothing." 

How  possible  it  is  to  fail  of  securing  the  best  when 
conscience  and  duty  are  made  ultimate,  can  be  seen 
in  the  fact  that  men  pay  debts,  tell  the  truth,  pray, 
preach,  die,  because  their  intellects  tell  them  that  it 
is  right  to  do  these  things,  and  all  the  while  they  do 
not  want  to  do  as  they  do. 

The  spring  of  such  an  action  is  not  the  central, 
and,  hence,  controlling  force  of  being.  The  distinc- 
tion between  the  man  of  duty  and  the  man  who  is 
under  the  genuine  ethics,  which  we  shall  soon  see 
Jesus  maintained,  is  made  perhaps  in  that  passage  in 
the  Romans  where  Paul  says :  "  For  scarcely  for  a 
righteous  man  will  one  die,  for  peradventure  for  the 
good  man  some  one  would  even  dare  to  die."  The 
righteous  man  and  the  good  man  are  very  different 
men.  The  good  man  will  be  righteous,  will  do  his 
duty,  but  the  righteous  man  is  not  necessarily  good. 
And  nothing  is  more  fearful  than  the  man  who  is  de- 
termined to  do  his  duty,  when,  for  any  reason,  he  has 
come  to  mistake  his  duty.  Paul  starting  out  for  Damas- 
cus, the  men  who  employed  the  horrors  of  the  Inquisi- 
tion, modern  saints  whose  tongues  were  sharper  and 
words  more  cruel  than  the  Inquisition,  did  their  duty. 

Conscience  and  duty  are  magnificent  servants,  but 
woe  may  betide  when  they  become  supreme. 


Ii8 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 


We  have  only  one  activity  of  the  human  life  re- 
maining to  which  we  may  look  as  the  residence  of 
our  ethical  being — the  will,  viewed  as  the  personality, 
of  which  Kant  writes :  "  There  is  nothing  in  the 
world  which  can  be  termed  absolutely  and  altogether 
good,  a  goodwill  excepted."  ''A  good  will,"  he  says, 
"  is  good  in  itself." 

We  are  now  at  the  centre  of  things.  We  have  be- 
fore us  the  faculty  that  controls  our  entire  being,  the 
centre  of  gravity,  if  I  may  so  term  it,  of  the  micro- 
cosm, man.  And  it  is  this  centre  of  things,  this  cita- 
del, which  Jesus  approaches  and  demands  a  surrender, 
thereby  making  duty  loyalty  to  Himself. 

The  "  doctrine  of  Christ  "  begins,  then,  with  obe- 
dience to  the  command  of  the  text,  the  command  re- 
peated so  frequently  by  our  Lord  when  on  earth : 
*'  Follow  me." 

And  just  here  lies  the  argument  for  the  verity  of 
our  religion.  That  religion  is  an  absolute,  an  unique 
one,  which,  with  reason,  makes  loyalty  to  its  leader 
the  first  prerequisite  in  the  character  of  its  adherents. 
No  religion  could  reasonably  make  such  a  demand 
were  its  leader  any  other  than  divine.  That  a  being, 
having  the  character  of  our  Lord,  should  make  this 
demand,  is  His  constant  testimony  to  His  divinity. 

But  let  us  not  anticipate,  leaving  as  statements 
these  positions  just  uttered,  which,  if  proved  true, 
would  make  a  chain  .that  can  not  be  broken  ;  I  will 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST.  j  ig 

consider  some  facts  underlying  ethics,  which  will  per- 
haps make  it  unnecessary  to  prove  either  of  the  state- 
ments. 

First.  The  ethics  of  Jesus  recognizes  the  fact  that 
there  is  such  a  thing  as  natural  morality,  or,  in  other 
words,  that  man  has,  by  reason  of  his  being  man,  the 
power  to  distinguish  between  right  and  wrong,  and 
the  ability  to  choose  the  right. 

I  know  that  not  a  few  theologians  would  protest 
against  such  an  acknowledgment  as  this,  on  the 
ground  that,  in  their  estimation,  it  paid  too  great 
honor  to  human  nature  at  the  expense  of  grace.  But 
the  statement  of  John  concerning  our  Lord,  "  There 
was  the  true  light,  which  lighteth  every  man  coming 
into  the  world,"  or,  as  the  marginal  reading  of  the 
Revision  has  it,  "  every  man  as  he  cometh  into  the 
world,"  is  enough  to  establish  the  fact  that  the  Bible 
regards  a  moral  nature  and  a  natural  ability  to  do 
right,  man's  birthright.  Christ  created  man,  not 
merely  our  hands,  feet,  eyes,  ears,  and  brain,  but 
our  moral  nature  ;  and  he  does  Christ  no  honor  who 
declares  that  the  light  by  which  He  lights  every  man 
coming  into  the  world  is  not  worth  the  having ;  he  does 
our  Lord  greater  honor  who  recognizes  as  a  gift  of 
Christ  every  vision  of  moral  goodness  which  thrills  the 
heart  of  man,  be  he  heathen  or  Christian.  For  I  hold 
that  when  John  maintains  that  all  things  were  made  by 
Christ,  and  without  Him  was  nothing  made  that  was 


I20 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 


made,  he  is  a  witness  to  the  fact  that  every  man  who 
has  a  sense  of  the  contrast  between  honesty  and  dis- 
honesty, justice  and  injustice,  has  received  it  from 
the  eternal  Word  of  God,  the  Christ.  And  in  this 
aspect  of  the  case  it  is  an  honor  to  my  Master  when 
I  trace  teachings  that  commend  themselves  to  minds 
enlightened  by  the  more  full  revelation  of  our  Lord 
from  the  Greek  mind  of  Socrates,  Plato,  and  an  Epic- 
tetus,  from  the  Roman  Marcus  Antonius  and  Seneca, 
or  from  the  sages  of  India  and  China. 

Understand  me !  The  only  point  I  am  insisting 
upon  and  the  only  one  necessary  for  my  argument,  is 
the  existence  of  natural  morality.  All  that  I  have 
said  concerning  its  being  a  gift  from  Christ  is  an  ex- 
pression merely  of  the  Biblical  view  of  the  way  men 
came  in  possession  of  it,  introduced  not  so  much  to 
meet  the  objections  of  those  who  would  be  disposed 
to  deny  "the  claims  of  revealed  religion,  as  to  disclose 
the  mistake  of  those  who  claim  too  much  for  revealed 
religion,  and  thus,  if  possible,  convince  those  who 
have  assumed  the  attitude  of  sceptics,  that  they  need 
no  longer  be  scandalized  by  the  view,  that  man  has 
no  moral  nature,  in  the  real  sense  of  that  term.  And 
this  will  be  seen  further  in  a  consideration  of  the 
other  factor  of  my  statement,  viz. :  that  man  has  the 
ability  to  choose  the  right,  without  which  I  hold  that 
any  endowment,  however  rich,  could  hardly  be  called 
a  moral  nature.    To  this  truth  Paul  is  a  witness  in 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 


the  famous  passage  of  the  first  of  Romans,  where  he 
says :  ".For  the  wrath  of  God  is  revealed  from  heaven 
against  all  ungodliness,  because  that  which  may  be 
known  of  God  is  manifest  in  them,  for  God  mani- 
fested it  unto  them  ....  that  they  may  be  without 
excuse,  because  that,  knowing  God,  they  glorified 
Him  not  as  God."  Also,  our  Lord  testifies  to  the 
same  fact  when  He  says,  and  this  is  the  judgment, 
that  the  light  is  come  into  the  world,  and  men  loved 
the  darkness  rather  than  the  light." 

It  seems  strange  that  any  argument  is  needed  to 
prove  that  there  can  be  no  ethical  philosophy  which 
has  relation  to  beings  who  can  not  in  any  sense  of 
the  term  choose  the  right  and  refuse  the  wrong.  And, 
perhaps,  much,  if  not  all  the  difficulty  in  this  direc- 
tion, could  have  been  avoided  had  the  fact  always 
been  borne  clearly  in  mind  that  there  is  a  world-wide 
distinction  between  saying  that  every  human  being 
can  choose  the  right,  and  does  choose  it,  and  by  re- 
membering that  the  philosophy  which  maintains  un- 
equivocally that  every  human  being  can  be  good  does 
not  need  to  hold  that  there  is  a  single  human  being 
who  is  or  has  been  absolutely  good  ;  and  this  leads  me 
to  another  item  in  the  ethics  of  our  Lord.    I  remark : 

Secondly.  The  ethical  teaching  of  our  Lord  recog- 
nizes the  fact  that  sin  is  universal.  "  All  theories  of 
ethics  fail  which  do  not  recognize  the  fact  that  man 

himself  is  a  failure." 
6 


122  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST 


Our  Lord  gives,  indeed,  no  warrant  for  the  extreme 
views  which  men  have  held  who  have  declared  man's 
physical,  mental,  and  moral  nature  totally  vitiated. 
But  none  the  less  it  is  an  essential  factor  of  His  ethics 
that  as  Paul  has  written,  "  There  is  no  distinction,  for 
all  have  sinned  and  fallen  short  of  the  glory  of  God." 

Quarrel  with  the  fact  as  we  may,  Jesus  Christ  al- 
ways went  on  the  basis  that  the  world  needed  a  Sav- 
iour, for  the  reason  that  it  had  sinned.  His  expres- 
sions concerning  Himself  as  a  physician  of  souls,  con- 
cerning the  new  life,  man's  being  lost,  the  dangers  of 
the  future  world,  are  unintelligible  on  any  other  basis 
than  that  the  men  who  were  to  have  Him  as  a  teacher 
in  ethics,  must  first  of  all  know  that  they  have  sinned. 
And  it  is  in  view  of  this  fact,  the  universal  sinfulness 
of  man,  that  I  am  led  to  remark  that  the  ethical 
teachings  of  Jesus  are  strong,  where  all  others  break 
down.  - 

Take  the  five  possible  theories  which  I  have  already 
mentioned.  Hedonism,  or  that  which  makes  pleasure 
its  end.  This  might  answer  for  a  holy  being,  whose 
pleasures  would  be  necessarily  in  the  right  direction. 
It  can  not  answer  for  a  sinful  being  who  pleases  to  do 
wrong.  Utilitarianism :  this  can  never  rise  to  the 
sphere  of  absolute  right,  and  no  system  of  ethics  is 
worthy  of  the  name  which  can  not  reach  into  the 
sphere  of  the  absolute,  and  save  as  the  one  who  judges 
in  the  case  is  absolutely  wise  and  good.   It  must  con- 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHEIST.  123 

stantly  be  a  failure,  when  sin  is  giving  the  mind  a 
wrong  bias.  Transcendentalism :  nothing  can  be  a 
more  unsafe  guide  for  one  who  has  sinned  ;  it  is  like 
a  man  looking  at  the  stars  when  attempting  to  walk 
across  a  bog.  Conscientiousness,  as  we  have  seen,  is 
ever  a  false  guide,  when  sin  has  done  the  work  for 
the  soul,  which  has  been  done  for  the  mariner,  who 
has  come  to  trust  a  needle  that  can  not  be  trusted  to 
point  north.  Determinativeness,  or  the  ethics  of  which 
the  will  is  the  centre,  fails  in  the  same  place,  for  no 
man  by  nature  has  a  good  will,  nor  can  he  by  nature 
tell  how  to  make  if  good. 

But  where  all  these  are  weak,  the  ethical  principle 
of  Jesus  is  strong,  and  He  introduces  a  power  supple- 
mentary to  truth  and  the  highest  human  ethics,  for  a 
new  heart  is  given. 

An  incident  in  the  early  part  of  our  Lord's  minis- 
try brings  out  this  truth :  the  conversation  with  Nico- 
demus.  This  thoughtful  inquirer  was  amazed,  well- 
nigh  stunned  with  the  announcement,  Except  a  man 
be  born  anew  he  can  not  see  the  kingdom  of  God." 

A  man,  therefore,  who  is  to  adopt  the  ethics  of 
Jesus  as  the  guiding  force  of  his  life,  must  receive  a 
gift  from  God  equivalent  to  a  new  birth,  must  have 
gained  a  new  life.  This  is  the  germ  thought  of  the 
ethical  teaching  of  Jesus,  and  we  are  now  ready  to 
see  whereunto  it  will  grow.    I  remark  : 

Thirdly.  Faith  or  loyalty  is  in  the  ethics  of  Jesus 


124  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 

essential  to  righteousness.  As  our  Lord  remarked 
in  the  close  of  His  recorded  conversation  with  Nico- 
demus,  saying,  "  Whosoever  believeth  on  Him  may- 
have  eternal  life." 

We  have  now  crossed  the  threshold  of  the  central 
truth  of  my  discussion.  We  have  closed  the  door  be- 
hind us,  and  stand  face  to  face  with  Him  who  says, 

Follow  me,"  or  in  other  words,  "  Believe  on  me,  or 
come  unto  me," — different  expressions  signifying  the 
same  thing,  Be  loyal  to  me ! 

Men  sometimes  urge  against  Christianity  the  objec- 
tion that  it  relies  too  greatly  upon  faith.  On  the 
same  basis,  fault  should  be  found  with  a  painter  for 
being  sensitive  in  the  matter  of  colors,  or  a  musician 
in  the  matter  of  sounds,  or  a  trader  for  his  honor.  It 
is  a  sine  qua  non  of  the  morality  which  Jesus  urges, 
loyalty  to  Himself,  faith. 

I  imagine  that  many  men  are  troubled  because  they 
misapprehend  the  essence  of  faith  ;  they  think  it  is  the 
believing  something  or  the  feeling  something  when  it 
is  the  acceptance  of  Jesus  Christ  as  the  supreme  and 
the  fixed  determination  to  entrust  all  to  Him.  An 
act  which  implies  more  or  less  of  believing  and  feel- 
ing as  may  be  the  character  of  him  who  is  to  have 
faith. 

The  ethics  of  Christ  then  makes  Him  supreme.  And 
the  lines  are  drawn  very  sharply,  for  He  says,  He 
that  loveth  father  or  mother  more  than  me  is  not 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST.  125 

worthy  of  me,"  and  even  more  strongly  does  He  put 
the  truth,  saying,  "  If  any  man  cometh  unto  me  and 
hateth  not  his  own  father,  and  mother,  and  wife  and 
children,  and  brethren  and  sisters,  yea,  and  his  own 
life  also,  he  can  not  be  my  disciple."  Could  any 
stronger  expressions  be  employed  than  these  ?  Mis- 
understood, indeed,  by  those  who  imagine  the  word 
hate,  here,  signifies  animosity,  active  hatred,  rightly 
interpreted  by  those  who  hold  that  so  great  is  love 
for  Christ  that  in  comparison  with  it  all  other  love 
may  be  called  hate,  and  in  conflict  with  it  all  other 
love  will  be  hate. 

A  love  which  finds  a  faint  analogue  in  the  devotion 
of  a  soldier  to  his  country  as  he  goes  to  death,  leaving 
behind  him  aged  parents,  devoted  wife,  helpless 
babes,  counting  his  own  life  nothing  if  he  can  but  die 
for  native  land.  A  loyalty  not  often  put  to  so  severe 
a  test ;  but  when  it  is  tried,  rejoicing  to  face  it.  A 
loyalty  that  implies  in  him  who  demands  it  a  divine 
character.  A  claim  which  either  proves  him  who 
made  it  divine  or  insane.  For  nowhere  between  these 
two  extremes  can  be  found  a  being  who  would  dare 
make  such  a  demand  upon  a  race. 

The  fact  is  that  no  human  being  is  capable  of  as- 
suming the  place  which  Jesus  thus  took,  without  los- 
ing balance.  As  Neander  wisely  remarks  :  "  Any  one 
who  endeavors  to  reach  the  ideal  involuntarily  con- 
founds himself  with  his  ideal,  and  this  leads  to  self- 


126  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 


exaltation,  to  the  deifying  of  human  nature,"  and 
here  is  the  sure  precursor  of  failure.  Humanity  is 
dizzy  upon  such  heights. 

But  all  through  the  New  Testament  Jesus  is  upon 
this  height,  not  only  in  His  own  estimation,  but  in 
that  of  His  adherents.  All  human  action  is  to  revolve 
around  Him.  Are  we  bidden  forgive  ?  "  God  for 
Christ's  sake  hath  forgiven  us."  Should  we  endure 
suffering  ?  Christ  suffered  for  us,  leaving  us  an  ex- 
ample." Are  we  told  to  walk  in  love  ?  Christ  also 
hath  loved  us  and  given  Himself  for  us."  Are  we  to 
be  philanthropic  ?    We  should  do  it  because  the 

Lord  Jesus  for  our  sakes  became  poor."  Whatever 
we  do,  no  higher  motive  is  held  out  than  "  the  love 
of  Christ  constraineth  us." 

It  is  in  the  light  of  this  principle  that  we  should 
read  the  issues  of  this  life  as  they  appear  upon  the 
picture  that  Jesus  gives  us  of  the  judgment-day — on 
that  day  when  men  are  to  be  ranked  among  the  saved 
or  among  the  lost,  as  they  have  shaped  their  lives 
upon  earth  by  the  underlying  principle  which  Jesus 
laid  down,  or  did  not  shape  their  lives  by  it. 

They  are,  you  remember,  the  sheep  and  the  goats. 
And  who  are  the  sheep  ?  Is  it  they  who  have  lived 
for  pleasure,  or  to  make  the  most  of  life,  or  to  soar 
above  their  fellows  ?  Is  it  even  those  who  have 
aimed  to  do  their  duty?  No;  listen:  "Then  shall 
the  king  say  unto  them  on  his  right  hand,  Come,  ye 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST.  127 

blessed  of  my  Father,  inherit  the  kingdom  prepared 
for  you  from  the  foundation  of  the  world  ;  for  I  was 
an  hungered  and  ye  gave  me  meat  ;  I  was  thirsty  and 
ye  gave  me  drink  ;  I  was  a  stranger  and  ye  took  me 
in  ;  naked  and  ye  clothed  me  ;  I  was  sick  and  ye  vis- 
ited me  ;  I  was  in  prison  and  ye  came  unto  me." 
The  righteous  in  their  astonishment  ask  Him  when 
they  had  done  all  these  things,  and  Jesus  answers 
them  :  "  Verily  I  say  unto  you,  inasmuch  as  ye  did 
it  unto  one  of  these  my  brethren,  even  these  least, 
ye  did  it  unto  me."  Me,  Me,  I,  I — no  words  are 
oftener  on  the  lips  of  Jesus  than  are  these,  and  none 
others  could  oftener  be  upon  the  lips  of  Him,  whose 
personality  was  the  centre  of  His  ethical  philosophy. 

And  what  life  and  warmth  there  is  in  such  a  phi- 
losophy !  The  ethics  of  Jesus  is  not  an  abstraction. 
We  do  not  have  before  us  an  ideal,  but  a  person. 
How  different  from  the  attempts  of  Plato  as  he  tried 
to  form  the  conception  of  a  perfect  man,  just  as  he 
had  tried  to  form  a  conception  of  a  perfect  republic. 
Whoever  saw  the  man  or  the  republic  ?  They  only 
exist  in  the  mind  of  the  philosopher,  as  unlike  the 
personal  Saviour  as  is  the  gleam  of  an  iceberg  unlike 
the  glow  of  the  sun. 

But  I  must  move  forward.  I  have  dwelt  long 
enough,  I  imagine,  upon  the  underlying  principles 
of  the  ethics  of  Jesus.    I  pass  to  a 

Fourth  consideration,  that^  although  Jesus  estab- 


128  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 


lished  no  code  or  system  of  ethics,  none  the  less  does 
the  principle  which  He  enunciated  reach  all  moral 
action. 

There  is  in  one  of  the  most  characteristic  remarks 
of  our  Lord  an  arrangement  of  words  that  has  some- 
times been  overlooked,  but  which,  borne  in  mind, 
gives  us  the  key  to  the  whole  situation  before  us.  It 
is  the  familiar  words  :  "  Take  my  yoke  upon  you  and 
learn  of  me,"  not  learn  of  me  and  take  my  yoke.  It 
is  first  loyalty  then  learning,  first  obedience  then 
knowledge,  or  using  the  expression,  "  follow  me,"  the 
key-note  of  our  discourse,  the  truth  is  expressed  in 
the  words,  "  He  that  follovveth  me  shall  not  walk  in 
darkness  or  expressed  even  more  philosophically  in 
the  terms  of  the  Revision  in  the  17th  verse  of  the  7th 
chapter  of  John  :  "  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  His  will, 
he  shall  know  of  the  teaching." 

It  is  the  first  impulse  of  the  human  mind,  to  say 
that  any  system  of  ethics  which  should  instruct  men 
most  freely  in  all  the  details  of  morals  would  thereby 
be  the  best.  And  there  have  been  not  a  few  who 
have  said :  "  How  I  wish  our  Lord  had  told  us 
whether  it  is  right  to  keep  Sunday  as  the  Puritans 
did,  or  as  the  Germans  do  ;  whether  total  abstinence 
and  prohibition  are  to  be  chosen,  rather  than  moder- 
ate drinking  and  regulation  of  traffic  in  strong  drink  ? 
Whether  I  can  speculate  on  'change  or  dance  the 
german  ?    What  I  shall  do  to  get  to  church,  when  the 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST.  129 

place  I  attend  is  further  than  I  can  walk  ?  Can  I  with 
right  have  as  well-furnished  parlors  and  well-spread 
table  as  most  of  my  station  in  society  have  ?  Is  it  right 
for  me  to  visit  the  World's  Fair  when  there  are  so 
many  going  hungry  and  who  have  no  coal  ?  "  There 
is  no  end  to  the  questions  that  might  be  asked,  and 
which,  in  some  of  our  moods,  we  sometimes  think 
our  Lord  ought  to  have  answered.  But  He  did 
not.  And  when  we  think  wisely,  we  are  satisfied 
that  it  was  the  part  of  wisdom  for  our  Lord  to  plant 
the  life  germ,  which  will  produce  the  fruitage  desired, 
rather  than  to  collect  the  necessarily  perishable  re- 
sults of  growth. 

Now,  the  force  of  this  germ  is  seen  in  several  di- 
rections. 

First,  it  is  in  a  sense  self-acting.  I  mean  by  this 
that  there  is  in  its  nature  the  potency  which  secures 
certainty  of  results. 

It  is  the  highest  ambition  of  the  inventive  genius 
of  our  age  to  construct  machines  which  shall  of  them- 
selves carry  out  the  design  of  the  inventor,  and  pre- 
vent the  workings  of  an  inferior  mind  thwarting  the 
results  aimed  at.  It  was  several  years  ago  that  I 
stood  watching  a  machine  in  the  fifth  story  of  the 
largest  cotton-mill  in  the  world.  A  young  woman 
stood  before  it  as  it  wound  hundreds  of  spools  of  cot- 
ton. All  at  once  it  was  silent.  The  machine  was  so 
constructed  that  the  breaking  of  a  single  thread  sep- 
6* 


I30  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 


arated  the  power  from  the  mechanism,  and  this  sim- 
ple device  of  a  master  mind  was  equal  to  the  attention 
of  twenty  or  thirty  lesser  minds,  which  might  have 
been  delegated  to  secure  the  same  result.  On  the 
same  principle  the  most  important  functions  of  our 
bodies  are  self-acting.  God  has  held  in  His  own  hand 
the  beating  of  our  hearts,  the  respiration  of  the  lungs, 
the  movement  of  the  digestive  organs.  He  did  not 
dare  trust  to  us  the  citadels  of  life.  ^ 

In  some  such  way  I  have  thought  He  regarded  it 
necessary  to  secure  an  ethical  force  which  should  in 
a  certain  sense  be  self-active. 

But,  unlike  the  machine  of  which  I  have  spoken, 
the  self-activity  of  the  Lord's  ethics  comes  from  the 
life-force  which  it  has.  In  other  words,  when  a  man 
has  begun  to  follow  Christ,  to  be  loyal  to  Him,  there 
is  a  new  impulse  which  has  entered  his  soul,  and 
which,  as  long  as  it  abides  there,  must  act  in  the  di- 
rection of  character-making. 

A  second  characteristic  of  this  force  is  that  it  tends 
to  secure  perfection.  If  it  ever  had  full  sway  I  could 
say  more  than  this,  that  it  secured  perfection ;  and 
this  is  the  case,  because  He  whom  we  follow  is  per- 
fect, and  has  afforded  us  through  His  grace  the  abil- 
ity to  walk  in  His  footsteps.  That  Jesus  Christ  is 
perfect  needs  no  proof  in  an  age  when  infidels  vie 
with  Christians  in  paying  honor  to  His  name  ;  in  the 
day  when  a  whole  world  not  only  echoes  the  saying 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST,  131 

of  Pilate,  "  I  find  no  crime  in  the  Man,"  but  adores 
Him  for  the  positive  virtues  which  have  made  Him 
a  unique  character  in  history,  with  the  strength  of 
manhood  and  the  tenderness  of  woman,  with  the 
simpHcity  of  childhood  and  the  wisdom  of  the  sage, 
with  self-renunciation  without  asceticism,  with  hero- 
ism free  from  any  of  the  vices  of  the  world's  heroes ; 
in  a  word,  the  ideal  man  living  a  real  life. 

We  hear  from  the  lips  of  those  who  look  out  into 
a  large  future  the  prophecies  of  the  coming  man,  the 
development  of  the  master  forces,  which  are  accumu- 
lating with  our  constantly  widening  civilization.  But 
we  are  able  to  say  that  no  distant  future,  with  all  the 
growth  that  it  implies,  can  find  a  man  to  come  who 
shall  equal  Him  who  has  come  ;  and  what  is  more, 
that  he  who  is  to  come  will  only  secure  the  best 
things  for  himself  as  he  walks  in  the  footsteps  of 
Him  who  has  come. 

And  it  was  He  who  said  to  the  world  :  Be  ye 
perfect,  even  as  your  Father  in  heaven  is  perfect." 
Perfect !  There  is  no  higher  height !  And  yet  the 
least  can  attain  it  no  less  than  the  greatest.  A  per- 
fect animalcule  is  as  perfect  as  a  perfect  leviathan. 

But  our  Lord  said  more  than  this.  It  would  have 
been  cruel  to  have  bade  us,  in  our  weakness  and  in- 
herent waywardness,  aspire  to  the  perfection  of  which 
we  are  not  capable,  save  as  we  are  to  have  the  help 
without  which  no  such  consummation  is  possible. 


132  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST 

It  is  just  here  that  we  learn  our  possibilities.  He 
bids  us  abide  in  Him, — as  He  tells  us,  to  be  branches 
of  Him, -the  vine, — and  thus  gives  us  the  life-force 
which  flows  through  His  moral  being  and  can  ener- 
gize our  life.  As  He  allows  to  course  through  our 
veins  the  blood  which  has  such  complete  oxygeni- 
zation  every  time  we  draw  our  breath  in  Him,  that 
it  tears  down  one  by  one  the  evil  disorders  through 
our  entire  system. 

Or,  to  use  another  of  the  many  illustrations  that 
He  employed  to  present  this  truth.  He  is  the  light, 
the  sun  of  righteousness,  and  so  long  as  we  walk  in 
the  light  we  are  sons  of  light  and  are  reflecting  the 
glory  of  Him  who,  being  perfect,  delights  to  have  us 
send  back  to  heaven  the  rays  He  has  bestowed.  Not 
the  dull  coal,  absorbing  all,  but  the  diamond  of  the 
same  component  parts,  indeed,  with  the  coal,  sending 
heavenward  all  the  beams  of  light  that  come  from 
heaven.  Not,  indeed,  that  all  or  any  of  us  are  these 
perfect  jewels,  sending  all  the  colors  of  the  prism  into 
the  face  of  the  sun ;  for,  although  all  colors  are  wrapt 
up  in  Him,  who  is  the  Light,  it  is  the  province  of 
each  of  us  to  send  back  an  individual  color,  it  may 
be,  and  thus  the  world  is  made  beautiful  by  the 
variety  of  the  hues  which  the  shining  of  the  One 
Sun  produces.  Were  there  no  sun  shining  in  our 
hearts,  a  moral  night  with  the  blackness  of  universal 
darkness  would  everywhere  prevail ;  but  no  sooner 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST.  133 

has  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  arisen,  with  heahng  in 
its  wings,  than  over  the  landscape  comes  indescribable 
beauty. 

Last  summer,  with  a  companion,  I  climbed  in  the 
darkness  over  the  untried  pathway  that  leads  to  the 
summit  of  Pilot  Knob,  overlooking  the  beautiful 
Arcadian  valley.  We  felt  our  way  among  the  rocks 
and  stumbled  among  the  debris  that  dynamite  and 
powder  had  thrown  up,  until  at  last,  waiting  for  the 
coming  of  day,  we  looked  out  upon  the  sombre  scene, 
with  its  few  outlines  made  visible  by  the  approach  of 
dawn. 

At  the  appointed  moment,  with  irresistible  might, 
the  chariot  of  the  god  of  day  came  over  the  distant 
hills  that  skirted  the  horizon,  and  from  out  the 
broad  sweep  of  the  dull,  dark  plains  there  came  the 
green  of  the  pasture  land  and  the  yellow  of  the 
golden  grain,  the  dark  brown  of  the  hillsides  at  a 
distance,  the  silver  gleam  of  the  little  brooklet,  the 
faint  blue  of  the  farther  hills  seen  in  perspective,  the 
more  intense  blue  of  the  sky — and  whence  came  all 
this  beauty  but  from  the  Lord  of  Day,  who,  looking 
in  the  face  of  nature,  called  out  the  loyal  smile  of  a 
morning  greeting — some  such  a  smile  as  human 
hearts  can  give  when  Jesus  sheds  abroad  the  light 
of  heaven  upon  the  soul  ? 

But  there  is  a  third  factor  in  this  ethical  germ 
which  we  must  not  fail  to  notice ;  it  is  ubiquitous  in 


134  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 

its  workings.  Here  as  elsewhere  it  possesses  the 
characteristics  of  Deity.  Its  influence  is  omniscient 
and  omnipresent.  We  can  say  with  the  Psalmist : 
"  Whither  shall  I  go  from  the  Spirit  ?  or  whither  shall 
I  flee  from  Thy  presence  ? — if  I  ascend  up  into  heaven, 
Thou  art  there ;  if  I  make  my  bed  in  hell,  behold 
Thou  art  there ;  if  I  take  the  wings  of  the  morning 
and  dwell  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  sea,  even  there 
shall  Thy  hand  lead  me  and  Thy  right  hand  shall 
hold  me.  If  I  say,  surely  the  darkness  shall  cover 
me,  even  the  night  shall  be  light  about  me." 

The  duty  to  follow  Jesus,  loyalty  to  Him  and  the 
life  which  this  implies,  touches  the  tenderest  child 
and  the  man  of  fourscore,  the  highest  executive  of 
the  mightiest  republic  and  the  boy  who  sweeps  the 
streets,  the  railroad  king  and  the  tramp,  the  scientist 
and  the  simple-minded  girl,  the  prima-donna  and  the 
beggar,  saint  and  sinner,  demon  and  angel,  Michael 
and  Lucifer,  the  archangel  and  Satan.  Wherever  in 
the  realm  of  moral  being  there  is  intellect,  conscience, 
and  will,  the  personality  of  Jesus  Christ  is  a  factor 
which  presents  itself  to  quicken  thought,  enlighten 
conscience,  and  guide  the  will. 

Have  you  ever  tried  to  trace  the  movements  of 
this  divine  force  in  the  life  of  the  age  which  was  upon 
the  earth  during  the  three  years  that  He  walked 
among  men  ?  There  was  no  letter  of  the  existing 
divine  laws  which  He  did  not  fulfil.    The  ten  tables 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST.  135 

of  Moses  He  made  most  glorious.  His  life  was  felt 
at  the  wedding,  and  its  joys  were  made  more  com- 
plete ;  at  the  grave,  and  its  griefs  were  made  less ;  in 
the  temple,  where  worship  was  hollow  ;  at  the  toll-gate 
of  the  tax-gatherer ;  with  Pharisee,  Sadducee,  and 
zealot ;  with  jurist  and  harlot ;  with  old  men  and 
babes;  with  criminals  and  judges;  in  the  fisher's  boat 
and  in  the  hall  of  the  learned  scribe. 

And  the  same  life  has  its  power  in  a  much  higher 
degree  to-day.  No  man  can  follow  Christ  and  sell  a 
short  yard  or  under-weight,  forge  a  check  or  take  usury. 

There  is  no  inspiration  in  loyalty  to  Christ  for  the 
unkind  word,  the  harsh  judgment,  the  scornful  lip. 

He  who  looks  to  Jesus  will  speak  purer  words, 
think  purer  thoughts,  and  his  deeds  will  be  pure. 

To  know  that  His  eyes  are  upon  us  suggests  kind- 
liness to  the  poor,  tenderness  to  the  feeble,  gentleness 
to  the  sensitive,  sweetness  and  light  everywhere. 

Soldiers  have  faced  the  cannon  in  His  name. 
Judges  have  dared  public  opinion  as  they  executed 
unpopular  law  in  His  name  ;  friends  have  been  true  to 
those  who  were  in  disgrace,  and  shared  their  shame 
for  His  sake.  No  heroism  can  surpass  the  magnifi- 
cent devotion  that  His  eye  enkindles. 

He  went  about  doing  good,  and  they  who  followed 
Jesus  are  found  in  the  alleys  and  the  homes  of  the 
abject ;  in  the  prison  cell  and  among  the  savage  na- 
tions of  the  earth ;  not  driven  thither  by  duty,  but 


136  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST 


because  ever  is  the  form  of  the  Blessed  One  going  on 
before. 

But  there  is  a  fourth,  a  final  factor  in  this  ethical 
germ  which  surpasses  all  that  I  have  mentioned. 
It  is  its  personal  or  life  force.  I  have,  from  the 
very  necessities  of  the  case,  hinted  at  this  element 
before,  but  true  logic  demands  at  this  time  a  separate 
statement  of  this  essential  thought. 

And  nowhere  in  our  Master's  life  do  we  find  this 
truth  expressed  with  such  force  as  when  He  hung 
upon  the  cross. 

Our  Lord's  disciples  were  scandalized  at  the 
prophecy  which  He  made  concerning  Himself.  "  I,  if 
I  be  lifted  up,  will  draw  all  men  unto  me."  And  all 
through  the  history  of  the  Church  those  who  have 
failed  to  appreciate  the  thought  that  duty  in  its  last 
analysis  is  loyalty  to  Jesus,  have  been  scandalized  by 
the  cross.  Other  teachers  of  moral  philosophy  have 
seated  themselves  in  the  halls  of  the  academy,  the 
college,  the  university,  have  adorned  the  chair  of 
the  professor ;  others  have  written  learned  books  and 
astonished  their  fellow-mortals  with  their  erudition  ; 
but  it  was  the  cruel  cross  and  the  untold  agonies  of 
Calvary  which  our  Lord  chose  when  He  would  draw 
a  race  to  a  perception  of  their  highest  duty.  In  those 
few  but  awful  hours,  mankind  received  an  impulse  to- 
ward true  living  that  surpasses  all  the  teachings  of  all 
the  sages  in  all  the  ages. 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST.  137 

When  on  the  tree,  our  Lord  bowed  His  head  and 
cried,  ''It  is  finished!"  a  universe  could  feel  that 
nothing  further  could  be  said  or  done  to  make  right- 
eousness more  glorious,  or  wickedness  more  outrage- 
ous. The  book  which  should  contain  all  possible  in- 
centives to  right  action  there  had  its  finis. 

Just  in  proportion  to  our  conception  of  the  worth 
of  Him,  who  on  that  awful  Friday  hung  between 
heaven  and  earth,  until  His  heart  broke  and  He  died, 
will  be  the  might  of  the  lesson  that  He  taught  when 
after  a  life  marked  by  the  constant  demand,  "  Follow 
me,"  He  lifted  up  and  drew  all  men  unto  Himself. 

Other  men  have  been  lifted  up,  have  died  in  greater 
physical  torture  than  He,  but  their  death  has  failed 
to  lift  humanity  above  itself.  "  A  stream  can  not  rise 
higher  than  its  fountain."  Jesus  Christ  makes  His 
cross  the  uplifting  force  in  the  moral  universe  because 
He  is  higher  than  man,  higher  than  angel,  was  God 
manifest  in  the  human  form. 

Is  it  any  wonder,  then,  that  during  all  the  180 
decades  since  the  universe  learned  the  supreme  lesson 
taught  upon  the  cross,  the  most  beautiful  and  most 
complete  lives  that  have  been  lived  have  been  of  those 
who  have  most  closely  followed  Jesus  Christ  ? 

I  looked  into  a  casket  where  was  resting  the  form 
of  one  who  had  gone  to  glory,  but  as  the  soul  de- 
parted it  left  an  impress  of  itself  upon  the  face  of 
her  who  was  sleeping  her  last  sleep,  and  it  seemed  to 


138 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 


me  that  I  saw  the  face  of  an  angel.  By  nature  and 
the  use  of  the  ordinary  forces  that  shape  character, 
my  friend  received  nothing  more  than  strength  and 
ruggedness;  but  grace,  that  inimitable  artist,  had 
drawn  its  lines,  and  out  of  the  rougrh  marble  had  chis- 
eled  the  face  of  a  seraph.  It  is  not  always  or  often 
that  the  glory  of  the  work  done  in  the  soul  is  so  fully 
stamped  upon  the  countenance.  But,  as  I  turned  to 
look  again  upon  the  face  of  the  sleeping  saint,  I  said 
in  devout  thanksgiving,  such  is  the  life  begotten  by 
loyalty  to  Jesus  Christ ;  but  one  of  ten  thousand 
times  ten  thousand  who  have  found  their  highest 
duty  in  the  words  of  Him  who  said,  Follow  me;  of 
Him  who,  in  that  He  has  so  transformed  humanity, 
by  the  very  superhuman  force  which  such  a  work  im- 
plies, affords  the  strongest  proof  of  His  divinity. 

I  am  done.  The  journey  I  have  taken  has  not  been 
long,  but  it  may  be  well  as  we  part  company  to  ob- 
tain from  the  height  we  have  reached  a  bird's-eye 
view  of  the  road  we  have  gone  over.  We  started  out, 
after  an  announcement  of  the  end  we  aimed  at,  with 
a  brief  presentation  of  the  different  schemes  of  ethics 
which  the  world  has  had.  Then  I  attempted  to  show, 
first,  that  Jesus  founded  His  ethics  upon  the  basis 
that  humanity  is  by  nature  capable  of  morality ;  sec- 
ond, that  sin  has  robbed  us  of  the  moral  ability 
which  God  gave  us  to  be  good  ;  third,  that  loyalty 
to  Christ  Himself  was  in  the  mind  of  our  Lord,  the 


THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST  139 

only  hope  for  righteousness  on  the  part  of  a  race  ru- 
ined by  sin. 

I  proceeded  then  to  characterize  this  loyal  love  for 
Jesus,  saying  that,  as  a  germ  force  in  morals,  it  was 
self-acting;  it  tends  to  perfection  ;  it  is  universal,  and 
above  all  contains  in  itself  a  personal  life-force, — Jesus 
Christ  upon  the  cross  lifting  humanity  above  itself. 
I  had  just  come  to  an  exhibition  of  the  work  which 
this  ethical  germ  had  done  in  the  world,  and  was  lin- 
gering beside  the  casket  of  one  who  in  her  death  had 
disclosed  the  might  of  Him  who  had  been  her  master, 
when  I  forbore  other  illustrations  which  crowded 
before  me,  as  it  is  the  province  of  my  brother  to 
whom  is  assigned  the  next  topic  in  this  series  of  lec- 
tures to  recount  the  triumphs  of  the  truths  which 
Jesus  taught.  But  if  you  will  pardon  me,  I  do  want 
you  to  tarry  for  a  moment  with  me  as  we  turn  to 
look  upon  our  Lord. 

Listen  !  Down  through  the  ages  comes  a  voice, 
gentle,  sweet,  and  clear  ;  it  is  the  voice  of  a  plain  man 
in  a  peasant's  garb.  A  man  who  talks  in  monosyl- 
lables, who  tells  simple  stories,  who  does  indeed  cure 
the  desperately  sick,  and  some  of  those  who  saw  Him 
said  He  raised  the  dead ;  but  to  most  who  knew 
him.  He  was  a  plain  carpenter's  son,  despised  by  the 
aristocracy,  hated  by  the  devout,  put  to  death  by 
those  in  authority.  And  what  does  He  say?  Two 
words  tell  the  whole.    "  Follow  me."    "  Follow  me." 


140  THE  ETHICS  OF  CHRIST. 

A  very  few  plain  and  uninfluential  men  heard  Him 
and  obeyed.  They  shaped  their  lives  by  their  new 
resolve.  They  taught  others  the  same  supreme  rule 
of  life. 

Listen  !  Where  is  that  voice  ?  Is  it  from  humble 
Nazareth,  or  ever  proud  Jerusalem?  Is  it  the  voice 
of  a  humble  carpenter,  a  wonder-worker  in  a  rude 
age?  No.  It  comes  from  beyond  the  skies,  and  I 
see  the  Son  of  Man  clothed  with  a  garment  down  to 
the  feet,  in  His  right  hand  seven  stars,  and  His  coun- 
tenance as  the  sun  shining  in  his  strength.  "  And  I 
hear  the  voice  of  many  angels,  saying  with  a  great 
voice.  Worthy  is  the  Lamb  that  hath  been  slain  to 
receive  the  power,  honor,  glory,  and  blessing.  And 
after  this. I  saw  a  great  multitude,  which  no  man  can 
number,  out  of  every  nation,  and  of  all  tribes  and 
peoples  and  tongues,  standing  before  the  throne  and 
before  the  Lamb ;  and  the  Lamb  which  is  before  the 
throne  shall  be  their  Shepherd,  and  shall  guide  them 
unto  fountains  of  the  water  of  life."  Listen,  the  two 
voices  are  one  !  And  now  it  is  again  from  earth :  "  I 
am  the  Good  Shepherd.  The  Good  Shepherd  layeth 
down  His  life  for  the  sheep.  And  when  He  hath  put 
forth  all  His  own.  He  goeth  before  them  and  the 
sheep  follow  Him,  for  they  know  His  voice."  Spoken 
on  earth,  spoken  from  heaven.  A  voice  which  obeyed 
compasses  the  whole  duty  of  man.    "  Follow  me." 


V. 


THE  ARGUMENT   FROM  THE 
INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS 
IN  HISTORY. 


M.  RHODES,  D.D. 


"  Now  when  John  had  heard  in  the  prison  the  works  of 
Christ,  he  sent  two  of  his  disciples,  and  said  uttto  Him,  Art  thou 
He  that  should  come,  or  do  we  look  for  another  f  Jesus  afi- 
swered  a?td  said  tmto  them.  Go  and  show  John  again  those 
things  which  ye  do  hear  and  see  :  The  blind  receive  their  sight, 
ajtd  the  lame  walk,  the  lepers  are  cleansed,  and  the  deaf  hear, 
the  dead  are  raised  up,  and  the  poor  have  the  Gospel  preached 
to  them." — Matt.  xi.  2-5. 

"  If  I  do  not  the  works  of  my  Father,  believe  me  not.  But  if 
I  do,  though  ye  believe  not  7ne,  believe  the  works ;  that  ye  may 
know,  and  believe,  that  the  Father  is  in  me,  and  I  in  Him." — 
John  x.  37,  38. 


V. 


THE  ARGUMENT  FROM  THE  INFLU- 
ENCE OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

For  more  than  eighteen  hundred  years  a  reHgion 
has  existed  in  the  world  called  Christianity.  Its 
founder  was  Jesus  Christ,  a  man  unique  alike  in  His 
origin  and  character,  without  any  parallel  before  and 
with  no  repetition  since.  The  spirit  and  principles 
of  this  singular  faith  are  as  attractive  in  their  excel- 
lence as  they  are  masterly  in  their  power  ;  and  while 
only  what  might  be  expected,  it  is  not  without  signifi- 
cance that  they  have  so  successfully  challenged  the 
admiration  and  respect  of  the  most  thoughtful  minds 
and  the  best  manhood  of  the  centuries.  It  is  only  in 
accordance  with  the  fitness  of  things  that  such  a  re- 
ligion should  have  made  for  itself  a  histor^%  and  that 
this  history  should  be  of  such  a  character  as  to  furnish 
some  substantial  test  of  the  claims  it  makes. 

I  do  not  affirm  that  Christianity  is  dependent  alone 
upon  the  facts  of  history  for  testimony  to  its  divine 
origin,  nor  is  it  needful  to  say  that  this  is  the  strong- 
est argument.  It  is  in  the  line  of  external  evidence, 
and  whilst,  as  we  think,  unanswerable,  except  upon 

(143) 


144  ♦  INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

the  assumption  of  a  divine  origin  for  Christianity,  it 
is  eminently  proper  to  demand  such  testimony,  and 
essential  to  the  character  and  purpose  of  the  Christian 
faith  that  it  be  produced. 

The  grounds  of  the  defence  of  Christianity  as  a 
distinct  purpose  and  revelation  of  God,  as  has  been 
shown  with  unquestioned  candor  and  ability  by  the 
brethren  who  have  preceded  me,  are  as  multiform  as 
its  excellence  is  varied.  Complete  in  itself  as  the  sun, 
every  feature  of  it,  like  every  ray  of  light,  leads  back 
to  the  original  source. 

It  is,  however,  a  reasonable  demand  that  along 
with  any  system  that  challenges  the  faith  of  men  and 
looks  to  the  moral  elevation  of  the  race,  Christianity 
should  certify,  in  some  way  available  to  all,  to  the 
claims  it  makes.  No  system  can  claim  to  be  a  relig- 
ion or  to  authoritatively  demand  the  faith  of  men 
unless,  along  with  its  dogma,  it  produce  a  life.  It 
must  achieve  in  its  subjects  what  it  claims  in  its  ori- 
gin, illustrates  in  its  spirit,  and  consummates  in  its 
purpose. 

As  Mr.  Coleridge  says  :  ^'  A  religion,  that  is  a  true 
religion,  must  consist  of  ideas  and  facts  both  ;  not  of 
ideas  alone,  without  facts,  for  then  it  would  be  mere 
philosophy;  not  of  facts  alone  without  ideas,  of  which 
those  facts  are  the  symbols,  or  out  of  which  they 
arise,  or  upon  which  they  are  grounded,  for  then  it 
would  be  mere  history." 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.  145 

In  Christianity  this  fundamental  conjunction  is 
manifest,  and  has  been  sustained  from  the  beginning. 
With  a  basis  of  truth  as  unimpeachable  as  it  is  pro- 
found, Christianity  is  not  wanting  in  facts  ;  they  blaze 
in  her  course  and  flash  through  the  centuries  like  the 
stars  that  illumine  the  firmament.  The  field  is  rich, 
many  have  set  out  to  find  treasure  in  it,  some  to  con- 
firm, others  to  destroy  ;  but  with  whatever  spirit,  it  is 
not  without  significance  that  Christianity  has  survived 
the  reproaches  of  its  friends  and  the  slander  of  its 
foes,  and  like  the  sun,  now  obscured  by  clouds,  and 
now  shining  in  his  strength,  it  is  no  less  pretentious 
to-day  than  at  first,  and  more  masterful  than  ever. 

I  stand  in  awe  both  of  the  character  and  scope  of 
the  facts  which  come  to  make  contribution  to  my 
purpose,  as  I  attempt  to  weave  them  for  a  crown 
about  His  brow,  who,  to  all  of  us,  is  a  common  Lord 
and  Saviour.  An  attempt  which  in  the  nature  of  the 
case  must  be  feeble,  in  view  of  the  vastness  of  the 
subject  on  the  one  hand,  and  of  my  own  limitation  on 
the  other. 

This  faith,  be  it  remembered,  began  with  the  avowed 
purpose  of  proving  its  pretentious  origin  by  the 
achievement  of  its  equally  pretentious  purpose.  "  I 
bear  witness  of  myself,"  said  its  matchless  Author. 
The  history  of  Christianity  is  not  an  accident,  to  be 
accounted  for  by  a  series  of  fortunate  or  adverse  cir- 
cumstances ;  it  is  a  fact,  an  inevitable  result  from  ade- 
7 


146     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

quate  causes,  both  of  which  are  subjects  of  its  own 
inspired  revelation.  As  the  miracles  especially  con- 
firmed the  faith  of  the  first  disciples,  so  this  history 
now,  is  for  us  and  for  all  the  world  the  unanswerable 
witness  to  His  claims  who  declared  Himself  the  Sent 
of  God  and  equal  with  Him.  As  no  man  can  deny 
the  divine  existence  without  quenching  the  stars,  so 
we  contend  no  man  can  fairly  deny  Christianity  with- 
out blotting  out  its  history. 

But  the  facts  are  here,  just  as  real  and  more  forci- 
ble as  testimony,  than  those  which  constitute  the 
narrative  of  any  event  in  the  nation's  life  ;  they  are 
inwoven  with  the  spirit  and  civilization  of  the  time, 
and  they  are  of  such  character  and  force  as  to  leave 
us  without  any  satisfactory  explanation  of  their  ori- 
gin, save  in  our  consent  to  the  inspired  revelation 
that  this  religion  is  from  God.  As  some  one  has 
said  :  "  If  Christianity  be  not  of  God,  then  is  it  his- 
torically and  structurally  a  series  of  marvels  unique 
in  the  world's  history  ;  a  miracle  greater  than  its  as- 
sumed supernaturalism  itself." 

We  can  not  fairly  estimate  nor  comprehend  this 
world's  history  apart  from  Christianity,  for  despite  the 
world's  resistance,  this  superhuman  faith  has  thrust 
its  roots  into  all  of  the  most  effective  elements  and 
methods  of  our  progress.  It  has  been  as  imperial  in 
its  spirit  as  it  has  been  benign  in  its  influence,  and 
ever}'where  in  its  march  it  has  combined  a  majesty 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.  147 

of  gentleness  with  an  unselfish  sovereignty,  which  at 
once  discloses  the  divine  might  and  excellence  of  its 
Founder. 

We  cheerfully  consent  that  if  Christianity  be  what 
is  claimed  for  it,  then,  no  matter  where,  no  matter  by 
what  forces  resisted,  it  must  illustrate  this  irresistible 
aggressiveness,  and  thus  constantly  assert  its  supreme 
origin.  It  can  not  do  otherwise  than  produce  a  his- 
tory in  consonance  with  its  exclusive  and  sovereign 
character.  It  is  its  own  maxim,  and  of  special  appli- 
cation in  its  own  case,  that  "  a  good  tree  can  not 
bring  forth  evil  fruit,  neither  can  a  corrupt  tree  bring 
forth  good  fruit." 

If,  therefore,  it  be  required  of  us  that  we  sustain 
the  claims  of  the  Christian  faith  on  rational  grounds, 
may  we  not  now  with  equal  force  demand  of  the  un- 
believer that  he  furnish  a  rational  solution  of  the 
problem  of  its  masterly  history  ? 

We  hold  that  this  demand  may  be  made  at  the  be- 
ginning without  any  presumption,  because  this  history 
of  which  we  are  to  speak  has  not  been  equalled  by 
any  other  force  or  system,  though  operated  with  every 
apparent  advantage,  and  is  acknowledged  by  not  a 
few  who  are  not  personally  partial  to  the  Christian 
religion  to  be  identical  with  the  noblest  and  most 
permanent  progress  of  mankind. 

If  it  be  said  that  the  best  effects  of  Christianity 
can  be  produced  under  like  circumstances  by  other 


148     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

agencies  wholly  human,  our  answer  is,  let  them  be 
produced,  the  world  waits  for  such  a  record.  Surely 
there  has  been  time  enough  and  no  end  of  efforts  to 
produce  something  that  would  present  to  the  world 
a  counterpart  of  Christianity  sufficiently  complete  to 
gainsay  the  coronation  it  has  given  to  the  man  of 
Nazareth,  and  so,  if  possible,  displace  it,  but  like  its 
Founder  it  is  still  matchless  in  its  character,  and 
without  a  rival  in  the  number  and  excellence  of  its 
benedictions. 

Of  course,  it  is  not  claimed  that  everything  that 
has  wrought  well  for  the  world's  good  is  wholly  due 
to  Christianity  ;  other  forces  and  systems  have  done 
good  along  with  it  and  because  of  it ;  but  while  it  be- 
longs to  our  great  faith  heartily  to  accord  honor  to 
whom  honor  is  due,"  it  is  insisted  that  Christianity 
in  all  best  progress  is  manifestly  the  essential  and 
dominant  force.  The  verdict  of  the  ages  is  that  other 
forces  have  their  value  and  place,  but  as  well,  that 
alone,  the  very  best  of  them  are  powerless  to  create 
and  develop  those  institutions  and  that  manhood, 
which  are  essential  to  the  strength  and  beauty  of  a 
lasting  Christian  civilization. 

It  is  a  fact  which  we  think  will  be  difficult  to  deny 
that  the  ideas  and  spirit  which  enter  in  and  attain  to 
supremacy  in  all  best  progress,  are  the  same  ideas 
and  spirit  which  are  inculcated  by  the  Christian  Scrip- 
tures, and  it  is  only  within  the  bounds  of  Christen- 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.  149 

dom  that  these  obtain  in  the  thought  and  habit  of 
men. 

Neither  commerce,  nor  culture,  nor  any  other  of 
the  world's  methods  of  civilization  alone  have  ever 
proven  themselves  sufficient  to  redeem  a  nation.  Be- 
lievers in  Christianity  have  often  stood  in  the  way  of 
progress,  and  by  blunder,  hypocrisy,  and  bigotry  have 
sometimes  set  this  sublime  faith  before  the  world  in 
the  unseemly  garb  of  mockery. 

We  must  be  careful,  however,  to  distinguish  be- 
tween the  human  community  called  the  church  and 
Christianity.  The  one  is  from  God  for  men,  the  other 
has  often  shown  itself  to  be  of  men  and  very  like 
them.  Frankly,  and  rather  as  we  think  to  the  help 
than  to  the  hurt  of  our  argument,  do  we  admit  that 
if  Christianity  were  to  be  judged  by  much  that  has 
been  taught  and  done  in  its  name,  we  should  be  com- 
pelled to  attribute  its  authorship  to  the  "  prince  of 
the  power  of  the  air,"  rather  than  to  the  "  Prince  of 
Peace."  Christianity  has  had  its  Papal  inquisitions 
and  its  Protestant  persecutions,  and  in  nothing  did 
they  achieve  better  than  in  showing  what  Christianity 
is  not.  Men  have  perverted  the  sunlight,  the  sub- 
limest  things  God  has  made  have  been  plucked  from 
their  places  and  made  to  flash  as  tempting  jewels  on 
gates  that  opened  to  the  darkness  of  the  pit,  but 
these  good  things  are  not  to  be  despised  because 
sometimes  found  in  doubtful  company. 


150     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

A  diamond  is  none  the  less  beautiful  and  valuable 
because  it  sparkles  on  the  finger  of  an  assassin  or 
libertine.  Bad  men,  mistaken,  prejudiced  men,  have 
and  still  sometimes  hold  up  the  broad,  bright  shield 
of  the  Christian  faith  before  them  while  they  pervert 
its  truth,  violate  its  spirit,  and  buffet  His  cheek  whose 
dying  compassion  for  His  enemies,  mingled  with  and 
transfigured  His  bitterest  agony  into  a  prayer  of 
mercy.  From  the  great  globe-heart  of  Christianity 
not  a  single  wrong  that  has  ever  been  perpetrated  in 
its  name  gets  anything  but  rebuke.  It  is  unfair  to 
take  any  unsightly  caricature,  the  product  of  man's 
imperfect  and  tottering  character,  as  any  test  of  the 
original.  This  is  not  the  history  of  Christianity  any 
more  than  license  is  the  history  of  liberty  or  lust  the 
expression  of  love. 

Abuse  has  retarded  its  progress  and  impaired  the 
influence  of  its  methods  sometimes,  but  its  own  liv- 
ing, loving  heart  has  remained  invulnerable  to  any  re- 
proach, and  like  a  mountain  stream  finding  its  way 
to  the  sea,  it  has  swept  across  the  most  sterile  parts 
of  the  earth  and  made  them  to  bloom  as  a  garden. 
When  men  have  looked  at  the  immature  and  imper- 
fect representatives  of  Christianity  for  the  express 
image  of  its  Author,  they  have  looked  for  too  much  ; 
as  well  judge  of  the  scholarship  of  a  famed  teacher  by 
the  attainments  of  a  sluggish  pupil  after  a  year's 
training  ;  but  when  men  have  looked  at  Jesus  they 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.     1 5 1 

have  been  encouraged,  and  have  discovered  them- 
selves being  changed  into  the  same  image  from  glory- 
to  glory.  Here  is  the  unanswerable  and  ever-hopeful 
advantage  of  Christianity — it  presents  a  perfect  ideal, 
and  by  the  influence  and  fruit  of  this  it  asks  to  be 
judged.  Mr.  Leckey,  in  his  "  History  of  Rational- 
ism," says  :  "  There  is,  indeed,  nothing  more  wonder- 
ful in  the  human  race  than  the  way  in  which  this 
ideal  has  traversed  the  lapse  of  ages,  acquiring  a  new 
strength  and  beauty  with  each  advance  of  civiliza- 
tion, and  infusing  its  beneficent  influences  into  every 
sphere  of  thought  and  action  "  (Vol.  I.,  p.  336). 

That  Christianity,  despite  so  serious  an  embarrass- 
ment as  the  misapprehension  and  reproach  of  its  pro- 
fessed friends,  should  have  made  its  way  down  the 
ages,  and  should  now  be  able  to  challenge  the  world 
with  a  history  brilliant  as  an  apocalypse,  is  no  mean 
proof  of  the  astonishing  claims  it  makes.  Were  this 
religion  of  man,  the  infirmities  and  faults  of  men 
would  have  caused  it  to  contribute  to  the  failures  of 
men  long  ago.  We  shall  not  condemn  the  soil  be- 
cause the  tares  grow  where  the  golden  grain  waves 
to  the  breeze,  nor  will  we  conclude  that  Christian- 
ity is  not  of  God  because  imperfect  men  have  scari- 
fied it  with  their  unholy  touch  ;  the  less,  since  indis- 
putably many  of  these  have  been  recovered  by  its 
own  transforming  power,  have  lived  to  minister  at  its 
altars,  and  now  either  adorn  its  doctrine  with  holy 


152     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

lives,  or,  resplendent  in  its  image,  look  into  His  face 
and  lay  their  crowns  at  His  feet,  who  gave  it  to  the 
world. 

But  Christianity  has  had  other  and  still  more  for- 
midable difficulties  to  overcome  than  the  one  to  which 
I  have  just  alluded.  It  has  had  no  favored  way  skirt 
with  flowers  and  cheery  with  light  and  singing  birds. 
Darkness  covered  the  earth,  and  gross  darkness  the 
people,  when  He  who  proclaimed  Himself  the  light 
of  the  world,  burst  with  the  lustre  of  a  thousand  suns, 
upon  its  gloom. 

The  significance  of  the  victories  of  the  cross  con- 
sists not  simply  in  their  lofty  character,  but  in  the  fact 
of  their  achievement  over  a  resistance,  unsurpassed 
for  the  ingenuity  of  its  methods,  the  heat  of  its  spirit, 
and  the  persistence  of  its  purpose.  There  is  nothing 
in  the  history  of  the  past  to  warrant  us  in  believing 
that  any  system  of  faith,  only  human  in  its  origin, 
could  have  successfully  withstood  such  a  tide  of  op- 
position. The  disparity  between  the  instruments 
chosen  to  commend  and  propagate  the  new  faith,  and 
the  forces  that  set  against  it  like  a  flood,  made  them 
to  appear  contemptible  in  the  eyes  of  the  world,  and 
but  for  the  fact  that  the  pulse  and  purpose  of  the 
mighty  movement  were  divine,  the  undertaking  would 
have  been  as  rash  as  it  must  have  proven  hopeless. 
But  these  humble  men,  without  name  or  learning, 
but  with  hearts  fired  with  a  holy  love  and  brows 


INFL UENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.     1 5  3 

"  mitred  with  Pentecostal  flame,"  braved  the  venture, 
and  conquered  in  the  name  of  the  Crucified. 

Look  a  little  farther  at  the  evil  forces  that  had  to 
be  mastered  before  Christianity  could  attain  to  con- 
quest. It  is  a  strange  medley  history  gives  us  of  the 
world,  when  the  imperial  throne  on  the  Tiber  ruled 
its  destinies.  What  a  strange  mingling  there  was  of 
forces,  noble  and  degraded  ;  and  how  the  blush  for 
our  kind  overtakes  us  and  the  rushing  blood  kindles 
indignation,  as  we  view  the  shameful  prostitution  of 
gifts  in  every  relation,  which  our  holy  faith  has  come 
to  regenerate  and  restore  to  their  proper  functions 
and  beauty ! 

It  is  not  permitted  to  me  to  uncover  in  this  pres- 
ence the  depth  of  that  depravity,  nor  can  I  give  you 
to  realize  the  hostility  of  that  pagan  dominion  upon 
whose  inflamed  flood-tide  Christianity  broke  as  with 
the  voice  of  God.  A  heathen  philosopher  but  skirts 
the  edge  of  that  foul  sea  when  he  says  :  "  All  things 
are  full  of  crimes  and  vices.  More  is  perpetrated 
than  can  be  removed  by  force.  There  is  a  struggle 
to  see  which  will  excel  in  iniquity.  Daily  the  appe- 
tite for  sin  increases,  the  sense  of  shame  diminishes. 
Casting  away  all  respect  for  right  and  justice,  lust 
hurries  whithersoever  it  will.  Crimes  are  no  longer 
secret ;  they  stalk  before  the  eyes  of  men.  Iniquity  has 
so  free  a  course  in  public,  it  so  dominates  in  all  hearts, 
that  innocence  is  not  only  rare,  it  does  not  exist  at  all.'* 
7* 


154     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

So  wrote  Seneca.  There  was  no  relation  of  life, 
no  function  of  government,  no  flourish  of  society, 
that  was  not  overlaid  with  revolting  corruption  ;  the 
very  temples  of  worship  were  suggestive  when  not 
occasions  of  lust.  The  rivalries  of  the  great  and  in- 
fluential, and  often  of  the  cultured,  leaped  into  an 
unclean  glare  of  indulgence,  extravagance,  and  cruelty. 
As  we  peruse  the  page,  it  almost  seems  to  stain  the 
fingers  that  turn  it  over,  and  we  go  away  with  ejacu- 
lations of  horror  and  disgust.  The  animal  passions 
had  kindled  into  such  mastery  as  that  emperor  and 
courtier,  men  and  women,  master  and  slave,  parent 
and  child,  seemed  set  on  fire  of  hell.  That  age,  it  is 
admitted  by  those  not  partial  to  Christianity,  saw 
humanity  at  its  worst ;  the  despoiled  image  of  God 
was  blotted  from  the  soul,  wickedness  had  demon- 
strated its  strength,  and  philosophy  and  art,  as  inde- 
pendent forces,  had  shown  their  pitiable  weakness 
as  well.  The  world  has  not  yet  recovered  from  the 
profane  shock  of  that  dissolute  time  ;  nor  will  it  until 
He  who  braved  its  blushless  face  with  the  sweet  pu- 
rity of  His  own,  comes  to  the  coronation  of  the  final 
victory.  That  age,  remember,  was  not  wanting  in  a 
pretentious  philosophy  ;  a  philosophy  not  wholly  with- 
out some  flashes  of  truth,  and  in  some  instances  born 
of  noble  souls,  but  nothing  could  be  plainer  than  that 
these  often  fanciful  and  visionary  speculations  were 
no  match  for  a  paganism,  whose  poison  infected  the 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.  155 

blood  and  molded  the  life  of  the  people  from  the  pal- 
ace to  the  hovel. 

Philosophy  made  some  attempt  to  break  the  domin- 
ion of  evil  and  to  recover  the  empire  to  a  passable  vir- 
tue, but  the  effort  was  only  as  the  breath  of  an  infant 
to  stir  the  ocean's  depths.    The  most  recent  writer  on 
this  subject  says  :  "  There  was  no  power  of  philosoph- 
ical teaching,  of  ceremonial  religion,  of  all  regulating 
government,  of  all  criticising  society,  there  was  no 
power  known  to  heathenism,  of  lovely  art,  historic 
recollection,  sonorous  eloquence,  stinging  satire,  which 
could  avail  in  that  momentous  and  awful  crisis. 
It  seemed  as  if  the  disastrous  influence  of  that 
epoch  in  history  must  continue  to  sweep  on,  pitiless 
and  destroying,  over  the  centuries  which  still  were 
to  come,  and  over  the  lands  in  which  still  stood 
pre-eminent  the  imperial  and  conquering  name  of 
Rome.""^    One  thing  is  sure:  the  verdict  of  history, 
whether  from  friends  or  foes,  need  not  be  misun- 
derstood.    That  confederation  of  giant  evil,  but- 
tressed about  by  every  social,  material,  and  imperial 
advantage,  stood  defiant  until  the  faith  and  life  of 
the  despised  Galilean  were  set  over  against  it.  It 
seemed  preposterous  that  it  should  win  against  odds 
so  immense.    To  many,  its  pretence  then,  as  now, 
was  counted  presumptuous ;  but  the  witness  of  the 


*  "  Divine  Origin  of  Christianity,"  Storrs,  p.  263. 


1 56     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

time  and  of  all  the  ages  since,  hush  the  objector  and 
proclaim  in  the  hearing  of  the  heavens  and  the  earth 
that  in  Christianity  alone  was  the  power  and  glory  of 
a  permanent  victory.  Do  you  ask  what  did  Christian- 
ity do  for  the  Roman  empire  ?  I  might  answer,  Chris- 
tianity did  then  for  heathenism  what  it  has  been  doing 
for  the  world  ever  since,  and  will  continue  to  do  until 
the  bright  vision  of  the  new  heavens  and  the  new 
earth  is  realized.  The  question  is  susceptible,  how- 
ever, of  definite  and  gratifying  answer.  On  the  re- 
treating surges  of  that  blackest  cloud  that  ever  spread 
like  a  pall  over  the  world,  the  religion  of  the  cross 
hung  its  bow,  and  the  sunken  empire  thrilled  with  new 
life  and  hope. 

Through  a  sea  of  corruption  unparalleled,  and  amid 
a  series  of  persecutions  that  lighted  up  well-nigh  three 
centuries  with  the  fires  of  martyrdom,  it  took  its  way, 
and  though  at  unspeakable  cost,  it  won  at  last ;  the 
hot  flames  of  persecution  were  quenched,  but  the 
torch  of  the  Gospel  burned  on  and  burns  yet.  It 
struck  down  idolatry  in  the  deification  of  emperors, 
and  in  the  base  adoration  of  senseless  gods,  and  ex- 
alted in  the  thought  of  men  a  proper  conception  of 
Him  of  whom  all  are  things.  It  purified  worship,  and 
from  an  occasion  of  sensual  gratification  it  restored 
it  to  a  ministry  honoring  to  the  object  and  ennobling 
to  the  subject,  and  from  the  discord  of  a  profane  jar- 
gon it  gave  to  it  the  bright  wings  of  faith,  devoutness, 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.     1 5 7 

and  praise.  It  revolutionized  the  laws  of  the  empire, 
and  in  the  place  of  cruelty,  selfishness,  and  tyranny, 
put  right,  justice,  and  protection.  It  recognized  the 
brotherhood  of  a  common  race,  gave  humane  impulse 
to  manhood,  put  the  arms  of  pity  about  the  children, 
and  raised  woman  from  the  debasement  of  her  sex  on 
the  one  hand,  and  from  the  disability  of  her  faculties 
on  the  other.  It  swept  from  society,  as  a  mountain 
torrent  bears  away  worthless  drift,  a  deep,  foul  scum 
of  impurity,  a  gorgeousness  and  tinsel  that  were  only 
a  covering  for  distortion  and  deformity,  and  restored 
to  it  the  order,  usefulness,  and  beauty  of  regenerated 
life.  It  created  the  home,  and  made  it  the  image  of 
heaven.  Upon  this  amethyst  among  all  the  triumphs 
of  Christianity,  let  us  pause  to  look,  for  while  it  is  an 
evidence  of  its  own  excellence,  it  is  a  test  of  other  re- 
ligions as  well.  For  600  years,  Mohammedanism,  on 
its  own  ground,  and  with  much  to  its  advantage,  has 
wrought,  and  the  home  is  not  yet  to  be  found  in 
its  vast  domain,  and  woman  is  still  a  slave.  For  the 
ideal  of  the  Christian  family,  and  for  all  those  tender 
and  beautiful  ministries  that  constantly  adorn  it,  for 
the  sacred  unison  of  noblest  manhood  with  purest 
womanhood,  for  the  immortal  glory  of  motherhood, 
for  all  that  is  divine  at  the  hearthstone  and  by  the 
cradle,  and  sweet  and  tender  in  the  one  queen  word 
home,  we  are  indebted  to  Christianity.  These  are 
among  its  early  triumphs.    In  the  beginning  it  did 


158     INFLUENCE-  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

just  what  has  marked  its  victories  in  each  succeeding 
age. 

Thus,  after  three  centuries  of  such  fidehty  and  self- 
sacrifice,  as  witness  to  the  superhuman  power  of  grace 
on  the  one  hand  and  glorified  humanity  on  the  other, 
the  struggle  was  ended,  and  the  cross  was  lifted  in 
the  palace  of  the  Caesars,  the  emperor  uncovered  and 
bowed  before  Him  by  whom  kings  reign  and  princes 
decree  justice,  and  the  religion  of  the  despised  Naza- 
rene,  over  an  opposition  unparalleled  in  its  bitterness 
and  persistence,  had  mastered  the  empire. 

What  say  you,  my  friends?  Whence  came  this 
simple,  yet  strangely  masterful  faith?  Is  it  from 
men,  or  is  it  from  God  ?  With  this  first  triumph  re- 
sistance did  not  stop ;  neither  did  the  mustard-seed 
cease  to  grow.  Every  subsequent  century  has  brought 
it's'fcrown  of  thorns  to  the  brow  of  Jesus,  yet  where 
is  the  age  that  has  not  laid  some  splendid  trophy  at 
His  feet?  Only  pausing  to  pray  for  His  enemies, 
and  to  bid  His  disciples  bless  and  curse  not,  the  liv- 
ing Lord  moves  forward  in  His  holy  mission,  and 
gradually  but  surely  the  distance  between  heaven  and 
earth  is  diminishing,  and  even  now  faith  hears  the 
sweet  symphony  of  the  angels,  as  if  they  were  coming 
back  to  sing  as  of  old.  To  crowd  into  the  briefest 
summary  what  has  filled  enchanting  volumes,  Chris 
tianity  has  taken  the  lead  in  all  the  controlling  and 
noblest  movements  of  modern  history;  it  unques- 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.  159 

tionably  regenerated  the  tottering  Roman  empire, 
civilized  the  Northern  barbarians,  hastened  and  gave 
perpetual  benediction  to  the  Reformation  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  and  ever  since  it  has  produced  and 
promoted  that  which  is  most  praiseworthy  and  en- 
during in  our  modern  civilization.  If  what  Christi- 
anity has  done  in  any  field  be  not  yet  complete,  we 
are  assured  that  present  attainments  furnish  a  most 
hopeful  prophecy  of  what  is  yet  to  be  achieved.  If 
social  disorder  and  war  have  not  yet  ceased,  it  is  only 
because  governments  and  communities  have  not  suf- 
ficiently imbibed  the  spirit  of  the  Prince  of  Peace  to 
make  the  unselfish  recognition  of  mutual  rights  a 
sovereign  virtue,  and  to  hail  His  purpose  to  usher 
in  the  time — 

"  When  no  war  nor  battle  sound 
Shall  be  heard  the  earth  around." 

Christianity  has  already  put  the  bright  crown  of 
domestic  queenship  upon  woman's  brow,"  and  trans- 
figured the  delicacy  in  which  a  ruder  age  found  only 
a  slave's  fetters  into  a  "  girdle  of  beauty  and  honor." 
Whatever  right  place  woman  holds  in  civilized  soci- 
ety to-day  is  due  most  of  all  to  Christianity.  With 
human  nature  constituted  as  it  is,  with  the  animal 
dominating  over  the  moral  and  spiritual,  we  hold  that 
the  degradation,  enslavement,  and  merciless  blight  of 
all  that  is  pure  and  beautiful  in  woman  are  inevitable 


i6o     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 


apart  from  the  direct  or  indirect  influences  of  Chris- 
tianity. History  corroborates  this  fact,  not  only  in 
those  countries  where  no  religion  has  prevailed,  but 
also  where  another  than  Christianity  has  lifted  its 
standard.  Without  the  ennobling  immortality,  the 
growing  life  toward  a  perfect  ideal,  the  tenderness, 
the  purity,  the  stirring  faith  and  hope  which  Christi- 
anity inculcates  and  illustrates ;  in  short,  without  the 
one  perfect  Christ  who  was  born  of  a  virgin,  in  the 
nature  of  the  case  woman  must  go  down,  and  in  her 
fall  this  world's  sweetest  hope  would  vanish  in  the 
darkness.  But  Christianity  has  already  rescued  us 
from  that  despair,  and  with  grateful  exultation  we 
may  take  up  these  words  of  the  gifted  author  of 

Gesta  Christi  "  :  If,  as  often  seems,  a  night  of  scep- 
ticism in  America  and  Europe  is  to  descend  upon  the 
most  generous  minds  among  the  men,  woman  will 
still  keep  lighted  the  torch  of  faith,  and  guide  the  race 
till  the  morning  shines  again  to  all "  (p.  298). 

But  in  nothing  perhaps  that  attracts  the  attention 
and  commands  the  admiration  of  men,  even  who  do 
not  honor  its  Founder  with  their  faith,  does  Christi- 
anity more  certainly  confirm  its  claims  than  in  the 
development  of  the  Benevolent  Instinct.  Here  is  a 
fact  that  makes  our  holy  faith  beautiful  as  the  light, 
pervasive  as  the  air,  and  imperishable  as  God.  If  it 
boasts  a  divinity  of  origin  and  character,  it  illustrates 
a  humanity  that  makes  all  the  world  kin,  exalts  the 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.  i6i 


love  of  our  neighbor  into  a  supreme  law,  makes  its 
observance  a  test  of  the  divine  in  us,  and  furnishes 
the  sunny  prophecy  of  a  brotherhood  wide  as  the 
race.  When  through  the  efficacy  of  its  wonderful 
self-sacrifice  it  redeems  and  reinstates  the  soul,  it  as 
promptly  extends  the  right  hand  of  its  humanity  to 
lift  up  the  helpless,  to  assist  the  needy,  and  to  minis- 
ter with  its  hallowed  touch  at  the  bedside  of  sickness 
and  death.  It  comes  to  reveal  the  nature  of  God, 
and  to  help  us  to  see  something  of  His  fatherly  heart 
in  the  face  of  Jesus  Christ ;  and  it  has  achieved  this 
purpose,  as  no  other  religion  has  been  able  to  do. 
God's  revelation  in  Christ  covers  the  horrid  image  of 
atheism  with  deepest  blush,  smites  wrong  with  merci- 
less severity,  and  at  the  same  time,  with  its  profound 
compassion  for  penitent  trust,  opens  a  free  and  wel- 
come way  to  the  little  child,  the  crowned  sovereign 
or  the  weary  prodigal. 

It  came  to  Hft  man  up  to  rightful  dignity  and  to 
set  his  eye  upon  the  hope  that  enshrines  his  immortal 
worth.  Max  Mtiller  says  the  word  mankind  never 
fell  from  the  Hps  of  Socrates,  Plato,  or  Aristotle. 
"  Where  the  Greek  saw  barbarians,  we  see  brethren. 
.  .  .  .  Where  the  Greek  saw  nations,  we  see  mankind 
toiling  and  suffering,  severed  by  oceans,  divided  by 
language,  set  apart  by  national  enmity,  yet  evermore 
tending,  under  a  divine  control,  toward  the  fulfilment 
of  that  inscrutable  purpose  for  which  the  world  was  " 


i62     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 


created  and  man  placed  in  it  bearing  the  image  of  God." 
It  is  only  through  an  apprehension  of  God  in  Christ, 
only  by  imbibing  the  spirit  of  His  life,  that  we  acquire 
an  unselfish  sympathy  for,  and  may  effectively  assist 
in,  the  uplifting  of  humanity.  Christianity  in  its  own 
marvellous  incarnation  is  at  once  the  illustration  of 
human  helplessness,  human  necessity,  and  human 
worth.  You  will  learn  before  this  series  of  legtures 
is  completed,  if  you  have  not  already  done  so,  that 
there  is  nothing  noble  in  man  to  which  Christianity 
docs  not  make  the  heartiest  response ;  its  appeal  is  to 
all  that  is  good,  its  emphatic  condemnation  is  upon 
all  that  is  bad.  Much  as  evil  men  have  had  to  say 
against  it,  and  strangely  as  many  now  oppose  it,  it  has 
no  parallel  as  an  angel  of  mercy,  unwearied  of  its 
flight  in  this  sorrowful  world.  To  blot  it  from  the 
world  would  be  to  those  even  who  despise  it,  as  the 
quenching  of  mother-love  in  the  home  to  the  children. 
Christianity  has  wrought  many  things  more  startling, 
but  nothing  more  divine  than  the  manner  in  which  it 
has  hushed  the  sobs,  and  kindled  anew  the  hopes  of 
earth's  weary  and  pilgrim  children,  given  celestial 
companionship  to  the  poor,  a  sweeter  and  humbler 
mind  to  the  great,  and  to  those  whose  hopes  have 
dropped  like  wilted  flowers  into  the  grave,  or  about 
whom  the  last  shadows  have  gathered,  a  bright  light 
in  which  resurrection,  reunion,  and  immortality  were 
imaged.    When  singing  angels  heralded  the  advent, 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.  163 

the  world  did  not  know  the  meaning  of  pity,  but 
Christianity  lifts  "an  altar  to  it  in  every  Christian 
heart."  The  boast  of  a  brutal  courage,  the  vaunt  of 
a  heroism  whose  glory  was  its  shame,  is  written 
everywhere  in  the  history  of  paganism,  and  all  this, 
despite  the  philosophy  and  culture  which  now  and 
again  made  feeble  effort  to  put  some  nobler  heart 
into  the  world's  rude  life.  It  was  left  in  the  begin- 
ning for  Christianity  to  ennoble  humanity -fey  the  true 
and  humane  proclamation  of  its  rights,  and  to  furnish 
the  spirit  for  their  illustration  and  maintenance. 

Let  the  spirit  and  law  of  this  heaven-born  faith  be- 
come the  spirit  and  law  of  the  wide  world,  and  no 
toiling  man  on  all  the  continents  will  ever  be  op- 
pressed, nor  will  the  sovereigns  of  material  or  secular 
power  any  more  be  menaced.  The  anthem  that 
thrilled  the  hearts  of  the  shepherds,  and  fell  from  the 
lips  of  choiring  angels,  would  become  the  song  of  a 
peaceful  world.  Christianity  is  unquestionably  enti- 
tled to  the  palm  for  the  exercise  of  all  those  tender 
ministries,  and  the  establishment  and  propagation  of 
those  institutions  which  heal  the  hurt,  and  open  their 
doors  to  the  sad  and  sick  of  every  clime.  If  it  be 
trite  to  speak  of  hospitals,  asylums,  and  infirmaries, 
along  with  numerous  organizations  and  societies,  in 
which,  for  the  relief  and  reform  of  others,  noble  men 
and  women  bear  about  in  their  bodies  the  marks  of 
the  Lord  Jesus,  it  is  not  without  significance  that 


i64     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 


these  are  peculiar  to  and  coextensive  with  Christian- 
ity. Let  him  who  desires  bear  testimony  to  pagan- 
ism and  infidehty ;  we  may  safely  challenge  the  world 
to  produce  the  single  home,  or  heart,  or  life  to  which 
either  of  them  has  given  a  noble  aspiration,  a  soothing 
comfort,  or  a  permanent  hope. 

The  best  known  apostle  of  infidelity  in  this  country 
has  recently  challenged  Christianity  to  produce  a  man 
equal  to  Alex,  von  Humboldt.  He  was  not  person- 
ally partial  to  the  Christian  faith,  but  he  could  not 
resist  the  touch  of  its  influence,  and  had  at  least  the 
candor  which  he  who  champions  his  name  as  a  wit- 
ness to  infidelity  most  certainly  lacks.  At  his  best 
the  great  scientist  uncovers  to  do  honor  to  a  system 
to  blaspheme  which  is  the  debauch  of  manhood.  After 
speaking  of  the  influence  of  the  Roman  empire  in 
promoting  national  unity,  Von  Humboldt  says  :  But 
the  feeling  of  communion  and  unity  of  the  whole  hu- 
man race,  and  of  the  equal  rights  of  all  its  families,  is 
derived  from  a  more  noble  source.  It  is  founded  upon 
deeper  motives  of  the  mind,  and  upon  religious  con- 
victions. Christianity  has  assisted  most  powerfully 
in  promoting  the  idea  of  the  human  race  ;  it  has  acted 
beneficially  in  rendering  man  more  human  in  his  man- 
ners and  institutions.  The  idea  of  humanity  is  inter- 
woven with  the  earliest  Christian  doctrines "  (Vol. 
II.,  p.  232). 

When  men  from  too  little  learning,  or  from  too 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  mSTOBY.  165 

much  vanity,  venture  to  affirm  that  Christianity 
underestimates  human  nature  and  discrowns  the  soul 
that  submits  to  it,  the  charge,  in  the  face  of  facts  so 
manifest  and  unanswerable  to  the  contrary,  is  absurd 
beyond  respect,  and  an  insult  to  ordinary  intelligence. 
As  well  contend  that  there  is  no  warmth  in  sunshine, 
and  no  beauty  in  the  flowers.  The  highest  liberty  is 
the  liberty  of  right,  the  liberty  of  order  without  con- 
straint, the  exercise  of  every  noble  faculty  in  its 
proper  sphere.  It  is  the  liberty  of  the  stars  that 
never  rush  into  mutiny  against  their  king;  the  liberty 
of  the  birds  that  sing,  and  trust  Him  who  feedeth 
them ;  the  liberty  of  angels  whose  highest  freedom  is 
submission  to  the  Sovereign  Will.  Christianity  is  the 
sworn  enemy  of  that  license,  the  spirit  of  which, 
whether  in  persecution,  selfishness,  or  crime,  is  cruel, 
tyrannical,  and  destructive  of  the  most  sacred  rights 
of  the  soul. 

Wherever  wrong  and  error  dominate,  there  we  may 
look  for  the  galling  yoke  and  the  tyrant's  sceptre ; 
but  that  we  shall  find  noblest,  truest  liberty  wherever 
truth  guides  and  the  spirit  of  the  Lord  is,  is  as  cer- 
tain as  that  we  shall  see  the  flush  of  dawn  by  looking 
toward  the  east  in  the  morning.  It  is  a  fact  which 
every  age  confirms,  that  if  the  spirit  and  life  of  Chris- 
tianity could  be  realized  in  every  home  and  life  in  a 
given  community,  there  you  would  find  every  sacred 
right  conserved,  a  model  social  order,  no  need  for 


1 66     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 


courts  and  prisons,  an  absence  of  wrong  and  fear,  and 
a  reign  of  love  and  peace  that  would  image  heaven. 
To  such  an  ideal  it  has  not  attained,  but  that  is  its 
course  as  surely  as  the  course  of  the  sun  is  across  the 
arch  of  the  sky.  It  is  hardly  conceivable  that  Chris- 
tianity will  meet  with  a  more  stubborn  resistance  than 
it  has  already  mastered,  or,  if  it  should,  that  it  will 
not  be  able  to  wrest  victory  from  the  assault.  This 
is  not  my  dream,  but  the  confident  assurance  of  its 
Founder,  and  sustained  by  facts  that  gird  it  to-day 
like  a  granite  wall. 

It  has  often  had  a  hard  time ;  its  children  have 
been  compelled  to  take  shelter  in  dens  and  caves  of 
the  earth,  and  to  hush  the  voice  of  prayer  into  a 
whisper  as  they  bowed  in  the  refuge  of  the  rocks,  and 
many  a  hard  battle  waits  its  march  to  the  final  vic- 
tory; but  from  age  to  age  God  has  not  left  Himself 
without  a  witness,  and  so  Christianity  will  go  on 
overcoming  and  overcoming  until  He  who  gave  it  to 
the  world  comes,  having  on  His  vesture  and  on  His 
thigh  a  name  written.  King  of  kings  and  Lord  of 
lords,"  and  that  other  vision  of  the  seer  is  the  glad 
sight  of  a  saved  world ;  the  city  of  God  will  have 
descended  from  heaven,  having  her  light  like  a  stone 
most  precious,  even  like  a  jasper  stone,  clear  as 
crystal." 

To  my  mind,  then,  Christianity,  the  miracle  of 
whose  origin  is  equalled  by  the  miracle  of  its  history 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.  167 

in  the  world,  is  its  own  witness ;  the  testimony  of  its 
own  matchless  work  in  the  world  girds  us  about ;  it 
rises  before  us  like  the  tall  peaks  of  a  mountain 
range  against  the  face  of  the  sky,  radiant  with  a 
lustre  as  imperishable  as  it  is  unearthly.  I  find  no 
solution  of  the  problem  of  its  history  in  the  brightest 
earthly  genius,  in  the  best  manhood,  in  the  most 
marvellous  circumstances,  still  less  in  obscurity,  igno- 
rance, or  poverty,  nor  is  it  the  outcome  of  any  force  of 
evolution  ;  by  an  overwhelming  tide  of  facts  it  de- 
clares itself  from  God  as  surely  as  light  points  to  the 
sun,  and  the  perfume  of  the  air  in  spring-time  points 
to  the  flowers. 

I  have  had  no  time  to  speak  of  its  evangelizing 
faculty,  and  of  its  chain  of  missions  girding  the  globe 
to-day,  and  making  the  waste  places  of  the  earth  to 
blossom  as  the  rose,  nor  of  much  else  to  which  Chris- 
tianity is  entitled,  in  support  of  the  claims  it  makes. 
As  well  attempt  to  ensphere  the  ocean  in  a  drop,  or 
the  sun  in  one  of  his  beams,  as  to  crowd  into  one 
discourse  a  history  which  for  wonder  and  benediction 
constitutes  the  mightiest  miracle  of  the  ages.  I  am 
awed  in  the  presence  of  the  unparalleled  character 
and  triumphs  of  Christianity,  and  in  adoring  gratitude 
I  can  only  exclaim  in  the  language  of  the  prophet : 
"  This  also  cometh  forth  from  the  Lord  of  hosts, 
which  is  wonderful  in  counsel  and  excellent  in  work- 
ing." 


1 68     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 


From  these  meagre  statements  I  beg  to  present 
briefly  for  your  candid  consideration  the  following 
conclusions : 

I.  T/ie  history  of  Christianity  clearly  proves  its 
superiority  to  all  opposition. 

No  effort  has  been  spared,  it  will  be  admitted,  to 
gainsay  or  to  match  its  claims,  to  expunge  its  written 
revelation  from  the  earth,  and  to  expel  the  spirit  and 
the  very  memory  of  it  from  the  human  heart.  But 
so  all-pervasive  as  the  air  is  it,  so  identified  with 
every  noblest  faculty  of  humanity,  with  every  true 
element  of  progress,  and  with  the  very  nature  of  the 
eternal  God,  that  an  effort  to  pluck  the  sun  from  his 
place  would  not  seem  more  futile  than  these  per- 
sistent endeavors  have  been.  The  astounding  fact 
remains — Christianity  is  still  here,  strong  and  fresh 
with  youth,  as  instinct  with  life,  as  flushed  with 
power,  and  as  radiant  with  immortality,  as  was  its 
Author  when  He  stood  forth  on  the  morning  of  the 
third  day  with  a  conquered  grave  behind  Him. 

In  the  well-spoken  words  of  another,  Christianity 
"  has  fallen  in  no  combat  to  which  it  has  been  called. 
It  has  been  proved  inadequate  to  no  work  presented. 
The  most  prolonged  and  passionate  assaults  of  its 
ablest  antagonists  have  failed  to  dislodge  it  from  the 
minds  of  the  communities  which  have  tried  it  most 
thoroughly.  Its  influence  appears  as  plainly  to-day 
on  every  side  as  it  has  done  in  any  time  since  it  was 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.  169 

first  proclaimed.  The  eagle  of  the  Faith  is  not  yet 
weary  of  its  mighty  wings  "  (Storrs,  p.  349). 

If  neither  the  depth  of  human  malice,  the  variety 
of  Uuman  ingenuity,  the  mastery  of  human  skill,  the 
vigor  of  human  learning,  nor  the  weakness  of  human 
ignorance,  the  marshalled  force  of  compacts,  nor  the 
insinuation  of  individual  influence,  nor  any  other  of 
the  many  forms  of  resistance  which  have  set  against 
it,  with  so  much  to  their  advantage,  have  been  able 
to  uproot  it  or  to  quench  its  growing  life,  I  submit, 
may  it  not  possibly  be  from  God  ?  At  least  there  is 
sufficient  in  this  fact  to  give  a  significant  emphasis  to 
the  inspired  Word.  "  But  if  it  be  of  God,  ye  can  not 
overthrow  it." 

2.  T/ie  history  of  Christianity  proves  that  it  is  supe- 
rior to  all  other  religions  that  have  made  similar  claims 
respecting  their  origifi,  and  like  demands  upon  the  faith 
of  men. 

I  can  not  enter  now  upon  anything  like  a  thorough 
examination  of  other  religions  with  a  view  to  their 
estimate  by  the  side  of  the  Christian  faith,  or  of  its 
own  worth  after  such  a  test.  Its  history  challenges 
the  comparison,  and  unquestionably  sustains  its  claim 
to  superiority.  Whatever  their  pretence,  the  history 
of  other  religions  has  failed  to  disclose  any  supreme, 
still  less  any  supernatural  claim.  They  have  not  re- 
sponded to  the  best  aspirations  of  the  soul,  nor  have 
they  succeeded  in  creating  a  community  that  could 
8 


1 70    INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

produce  or  even  harmonize  with  the  highest  civiliza- 
tion. Judged  by  their  own  achievements,  the  most 
liberal  verdict  can  only  attribute  to  the  best  of  them 
a  human  origin.  Take  Mohammedanism.  After  51II 
that  can  be  said  for  it,  it  is  cold,  selfish,  pitiless.  His 
tongue  would  falter  who  would  venture  to  stand 
before  its  flaming  gate  and  say,  "  God  is  love." 
These  lines  of  Lord  Houghton  describe  at  once  its 
spirit  and  its  inferiority  to  the  religion  of  Jesus : 

"  Mohammed's  truth  lay  in  a  holy  book  ; 
Christ's,  in  a  sacred  life. 


"  So  while  the  world  rolls  on  from  change  to  change, 
And  realms  of  thought  expand, 
The  letter  stands  without  expanse  or  range, 
Stiff  as  a  dead  man's  hand. 

"  While,  as  the  life-blood  fills  the  growing  form. 
The  spirit  Christ  has  shed 
Flows  through  the  ripening  ages  fresh  and  warm, 
More  felt  than  heard  or  read." 

There  is  no  spirit  of  life  or  aggressiveness  here. 
Mohammedanism  has  no  heart,  hence  no  adaptation 
to  human  need.  Put  all  the  ethnic  religions  together, 
and  set  their  excellences  as  jewels  to  adorn  the  faiths 
of  the  world,  yet  beside  them  Christianity  is  the  pearl 
supreme — divine. 

Buddhism  no  longer  advances,  and  Mohammedan- 
ism languishes  in  its  conquest  and  must  go  : 

"  While  blazoned  as  on  heaven's  immortal  noon 
The  cross  leads  generations  on." 


influence:  of  JESUS  in  history.  i;i 

It  is  not  needful  to  say  that  we  do  not  contend 
that  the  mastery  of  Christianity  over  all  opposition, 
and  its  superiority  above  all  other  religions,  are  in 
themselves  conclusive  proofs  of  its  divine  origin  ;  we 
are  by  no  means  shut  up  to  these  facts ;  others  lie 
back  of  them  and  underneath  them,  as  the  rock 
foundation  of  a  massive  superstructure  ;  but  we  may 
claim  that  these  facts  are  harmonious  notes  in  the 
choral  of  testimony  now  being  given  in  this  place, 
and  along  with  what  you  have  heard  and  will  yet 
hear,  we  may  point  to  the  other  religions  of  the  world, 
as  they  vanish  before  the  majesty  of  Christianity,  and 
say  with  Him  whose  word  is  supreme,  "  Ye  are  from 
beneath,  I  am  from  above.  Ye  are  of  this  world,  I 
am  not  of  this  world." 

3.  If  Christianity  be  such  a  system,  is  it  not  manly, 
is  it  not  loyalty  to  God,  is  it  not  noblest  response  to  the 
highest  faculties  of  our  being  to  accept  and  witness  for 
this  faith  ? 

Manifestly  the  history  of  Christianity  makes  a  strong 
appeal  to  our  personal  faith.  It  has  put  all  men  un- 
der serious  obligations,  and  for  all  noblest  ends  we 
are  so  dependent  upon  its  influence,  that  to  blush  for 
it  is  to  discrown  manhood.  It  has  come  to  redeem 
the  soul,  to  restore  the  higher  faculties  to  supremacy, 
and  to  recover  man  to  sonship  with  God.  The  high- 
est purpose  and  the  best  hope  in  human  life  are  real- 
ized in  it.    In  every  way  it  puts  honor  upon  men, 


172     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

and  for  every  ministry  gives  enlarged  capacity.  It  is 
manly  to  avow  such  a  religion.  We  owe  it  to  all  that 
is  purest,  most  useful,  and  most  enduring  in  us.  We 
owe  it  to  Him  in  whose  image  we  were  made.  It  is 
proper  to  read  the  history,  but  we  can  only  put  our 
manly  personal  testimony  on  the  side  of  the  Christian 
faith,  by  bringing  to  its  Author  the  tribute  of  our 
trust  and  obedience.  To  all  such,  but  only  to  such, 
our  Lord  says  :  "  Ye  shall  be  witnesses  unto  me." 
That  Christianity  is  competent  to  recover  the  soul  to 
God,  is  just  as  much  a  fact  of  history  as  any  we  have 
named.  Than  its  individual  triumphs,  it  has  no  sub- 
limer  record.  That  it  has  rescued  men  and  women 
who  were  enslaved  by  sin  and  mastered  by  unbelief, 
to  the  liberty  and  moral  excellence  of  the  sons  and 
daughters  of  God,  and  made  their  lives  a  benediction 
and  their  names  a  hallowed  memory  to  the  genera- 
tions, is  a  fact  as  incontrovertible  as  that  which  re- 
veals the  inventor's  genius  or  the  author's  name. 

Such  a  religion  gives  a  high  purpose,  a  new  charm  to 
life,  it  exalts  human  nature,  and  I  can  only  be  true  to 
myself  and  true  to  God  when  I  give  it  my  personal  trust 
and  obedience.  Unbelief  may  sneer  at  what  the  Chris- 
tian calls  an  experience  of  this  faith,  but  what  is  inwoven 
with  the  soul's  life,  and  has  enabled  men  and  women 
in  all  the  ages  to  join  a  heroic  courage  with  a  becoming 
humility,  and  say,  as  cheerfully  under  adverse  as  un- 
der favorable  circumstances,  "  I  know  whom  I  have 


INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY.     1 73 

believed,"  is  not  to  be  tossed  aside  as  a  trick  of 
affectation,  the  fancy  of  a  disturbed  brain,  or  a  flour- 
ish of  sentiment.  It  is  a  fact  that  has  characterized 
this  faith  in  the  great  and  in  the  lowly,  in  the  young 
and  in  the  aged,  and  in  the  learned  and  in  the  un- 
learned alike,  from  the  beginning.  It  belongs  to 
Christianity  to  produce  just  such  an  experience,  it  is 
Christ's  own  promise  to  His  foUow^ers,  and  to  deny  it 
is  to  violate  the  most  enlightened  and  reliable  con- 
sciousness of  the  human  soul.  Here,  indeed,  for  the 
individual  is  the  conclusive  argument.  Here  is  the 
sleepless  sentinel  that  guards  the  citadel  of  the  soul. 
Here  the  divine  illustration  that  gives  spiritual  vision 
to  faith,  and  makes  the  regenerated  heart  to  look  into 
the  face  of  God.  Is  it  not  manly  to  avow  such  a  re- 
ligion ?  If  we  would  make  worthy  recognition  of  the 
noble  in  us,  and  of  Him,  "  in  whom  we  live  and  move 
and  have  our  being,"  can  we  do  less  than  give  to  this 
faith  the  test  of  honest  trial  ?  A  great  army  of  wit- 
nesses have  so  proven-  it,  and  in  all  that  illustrious 
host  not  one  has  ever  come  forward  to  declare  that  it 
has  been  found  wanting.  For  nearly  two  thousand 
years  there  has  not  been  a  single  testimony  against 
the  Christian  faith,  from  among  those  who  have  given 
it  the  trial  it  demands  and  merits.  I  submit,  is  there 
no  argument  in  this  ?  The  voice  of  history  sounds 
across  the  centuries  with  a  great  thunder,  declaring 
that  He  is  faithful  who  promised,  and  that  what  He 


174     INFLUENCE  OF  JESUS  IN  HISTORY. 

promised  He  has  proven  Himself  able  to  perform. 
The  air  is  heavy  with  doubt  to-day,  but  it  is  not  the 
manliness  of  men,  nor  any  struggle  for  true  liberty 
that  makes  it  so.  He  is  not  a  slave,  no  weak  vision- 
ary in  whose  soul  the  composure  of  God's  peace  sings 
while  the  storm  rages.  He  is  a  prince  among  men, 
though  he  appear  to  many  among  the  worldly  wise 
and  great  as  one  who  trifles  with  senseless  mysteries. 
Christ's  claim  to  have  the  heathen  for  an  inheritance 
and  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth  for  a  possession, 
is  still  supreme. 

In  view  of  this  vast  claim  Christianity  appeals  to 
each  individual  before  me  now  ;  it  bids  you  set  in 
contrast  with  it,  and  with  its  sublime  history  in  the 
world,  every  system  that  has  been  set  over  against 
it  ;  the  tree  has  grown  to  such  mastery,  that  you  may 
judge  of  its  fruit  and  not  mistake.  A  religion  with 
such  claims  and  with  a  testimony  so  broad,  so  mar- 
vellous, and  so  manifest  on  every  hand,  deserves,  I 
am  sure,  not  only  your  intelligent  thought,  but  has  a 
right  to  demand  your  heartiest  confidence.  It  is 
noble,  it  is  safe,  it  is  the  dawn  of  man's  brightest  and 
most  enduring  hope  to  stand  on  this  side.  He  has 
reached  the  most  excellent  coronation  possible  to  hu- 
manity in  this  life,  who  does  not  despise  the  world 
nor  anything  good  in  it,  but  putting  all  lower  things 
in  their  proper  place,  stands  imperial  above  them,  and 
exclaims  :  "  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the 
cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ T 


VI. 

THE  ARGUMENT  FROM  HUMAN 
NECESSITY. 


W.  V.   TUDOR,  D.D. 


"  He  giveth  to  the  beast  his  food,  and  to  the  young  ravens 
which  cry." — PSALM  cxlvii.  9. 

"Are ye  not  7nuch  better  than  they?" — Matt.  vi.  26. 

"But  God  forbid  that  I  should  glory,  save  in  the  cross  of  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ." — Gal.  vi.  14. 


VI. 


THE  ARGUMENT  FROM  HUMAN 
NECESSITY. 

The  discourse  of  this  evening,  to  be  true  to  its 
subject,  ought  to  seem,  in  its  several  propositions, 
like  something  my  hearers  have  heard  or  thought  of 
before  ;  for  the  argument  is  from  human  wants  as 
they  are  met  in  Christ  :  and  these  wants,  to  be  such, 
must  be  more  or  less  conscious  and  familiar.  The  dis- 
course of  the  hour  seeks  only  their  true  interpreta- 
tion, and  to  show  how  their  demands  are  met  in 
Christ.  Let  us  adopt,  first,  the  speculative ;  and 
secondly,  the  practical  method  of  argument. 

First,  the  speculative.  To  know  man  rightly  one 
must  know  his  deepest  and  most  urgent  wants. 
These,  while  they  testify  to  his  ignorance,  weakness, 
unhappiness,  or  guilt,  also  proclaim  his  capacities, 
and  are  prophecies  of  his  future  greatness.  To 
rightly  interpret  and  supply  these  wants  is  to  re- 
deem and  glorify  human  nature.  A  little  reflection 
on  some  of  our  conscious  spiritual  needs  will  show 
this.  For  example,  the  old  question,  "  If  a  man  die, 
8*  (177) 


1 7  8   AEG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 

shall  he  live  again  ?  "  expresses  a  want  as  old  as  the 
race.  There  is  also  the  want  of  moral  goodness,  or 
a  conscious  imperfection  in  that  regard,  of  the  human 
being.  Christ  has  developed  that  want  in  man  be- 
yond any  other  teacher  that  has  ever  appeared  on 
earth.  Whenever  He  has  been  revealed  to  the  soul. 
He  has  set  it  to  longing  most  profoundly  and  ardently 
after  holiness.  There  is,  too,  the  great  need  of  the 
soul  for  God,  felt  in  different  degrees  and  expressed 
in  ten  thousand  ways,  yet  felt  by  all.  When  one  of 
Christ's  disciples  wrote,  "  We  know  not  what  we 
should  pray  for  as  we  ought,"  since  prayer  is  the  voice 
of  need,  he  expressed  the  general  idea  of  man's  need 
of  something,  he  rightly  knows  not  what,  and  there- 
fore can  not  intelligently  seek  or  define.  Except  it 
be  in  one  like  Voltaire,  whom  an  acute  and  not  un- 
friendly critic  characterized  as  the  man  without  a 
soul,  there  is  a  mood  of  the  universal  human  spirit 
which  demands  or  postulates  God.  The  Unknowable 
of  Herbert  Spencer  is  the  unintelligent  prayer  of  the 
soul.  We  know  not  what  to  pray  for  as  we  ought ; 
but  there  has  been  the  prayer,  in  all  times,  the  unut- 
terable groaning  of  man  for  some  such  being  as  God, 
to  respond  to  a  conscious  self  or  faculty  in  us,  as 
light  is  for  the  eye,  and  food  for  hunger,  and  love  for 
the  heart.  Christ  stirred  this  want  in  the  human 
breast  as  it  had  not  been  felt  before.  He  came  at  a 
time  when  the  idea  of  God  had  fallen  into  decadence 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 79 

among  the  Gentiles,  and  the  Jewish  God  had  become 
an  abstraction.  He  set  men  at  thinking  anew  upon 
the  great  want.  The  Lord  Jesus  Christ  appeared  as 
the  mediator  between  God  and  man,  and  the  repre- 
sentation of  His  Hfe  which  we  have,  must  impress 
every  candid  mind  as  designed  on  the  one  side,  to 
make  man  feel  his  need  of  God,  and,  on  the  other,  to 
reveal  God  as  supplying  that  need.  Was  He  born 
more  of  woman  or  of  the  Spirit  ?  Man  seems  to  be 
spirit  and  flesh,  but  his  lower  nature  must  be  recog- 
nized as  holding  an  undue  and  vastly  disproportionate 
place  in  him,  or  as  being  in  such  ascendency,  especi- 
ally as  affecting  the  aspect  of  morals  and  moral  good- 
ness, as  that  he  is  not  a  fair  representative  of  an  easily 
conceivable  higher,  purer,  and  spiritual  nature.  In- 
tellect, which  we  may  distinguish  as  spiritual,  has 
been  mighty  enough  in  the  earth  ;  but  the  salient 
spirituality  of  Christ  was  at  the  point  of  man's  utter 
deficiency,  and  therefore  greatest  need,  viz. :  The 
moral  quality  of  a  rational  being.  He  produced  no 
inventions,  he  wrote  no  books,  he  pretended  to  no 
letters,  albeit  when  He  spoke  they  said,  Never  man 
spake  like  this  man,"  and  How  knoweth  this  man 
letters,  having  never  learned  ?  "  He  was  all  mind,  as 
to  that ;  but  it  was  not  dazzling  genius  the  world 
stood  particularly  in  need  of  ;  it  was  moral  purity  and 
happiness  and  peace  and  life  and  God.  Behold  in 
Christ  the  intermediary;  poor  and  hungry  and  suf- 


1 80   ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 


fering  as  flesh  in  utmost  disability  can  be,  a  very  man 
of  matter;  and  yet  again  fading  away  into  a  realm 
of  teaching  and  example,  until  we  feel  that,  could  we 
look  behind  the  vanishing  form,  we  should  see  the 
whole  spiritual  world.  He  stood  between,  the  medi- 
ator between  God  and  man,  the  very  want  of  man  in 
his  ignorance  and  flesh,  intermediation  between  spirit 
and  matter,  to  reveal  both  to  man  who  is  both  ;  inter- 
mediation commending  itself  to  our  intelligence  as  the 
wise  and  perfect  way  to  deal  with  a  being  of  man's 
properties  and  endowments.  Christ  was  scarcely 
human,  and  yet  He  was  nothing  if  He  was  not  man. 
The  typical  sceptic,  Renan,  does  not  know  exactly 
what  to  make  of  Him.  He  sees  something  more  than 
human  in  His  words,  though  subject,  of  course,  to 
his  own  interpretation.  How  marked  was  the  ab- 
sence of  human  ambition  in  Christ,  with  the  follow- 
ing He  had ;  and  then  He  never  sinned.  Renan 
says  :  Free  from  selfishness,  the  source  of  all  our 
sorrows.  He  thought  only  of  His  work.  His  race, 
humanity."    He  stood  between. 

Is  our  argument  from  human  necessities?  There 
were  a  thousand  wants  of  mankind  to  which  Christ 
was  utterly  indifferent,  except  to  warn  against  them, 
such  as  those  of  gain  and  pleasure  and  the  world.  It 
is  not  needful  for  our  purpose  to  discriminate  by  defi- 
nition among  human  wants.  Man's  wants  are  not 
always  his  longings,  nor  his    longings   his  wants. 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 8 1 


When  Plato,  in  his  "  RepubHc,"  uses  the  simile  of  the 
sea-god  Glaucus,  and  interprets,  "  The  soul  of  man  is 
in  a  similar  condition,  disfigured  by  ten  thousand  ills," 
he  speaks  of  a  condition  of  necessity  that  throws  in 
the  shade  ev-ery  other.  He  says  :  "  We  have  seen  the 
soul  only  in  a  condition  which  may  be  compared  to 
that  of  Glaucus,  whose  original  image  can  hardly  be 
discerned,  because  his  natural  members  are  broken  off 
and  crushed,  and  in  many  ways  damaged  by  the 
waves,  and  incrustations  have  grown  over  them  of  sea- 
weed, and  shells,  and  stones,  so  that  he  is  liker  to 
some  sea-monster  than  to  his  natural  form."  In  like 
manner,  Christ's  figures  of  man  as  sick  and  lost  are 
true  to  nature,  and  intimate  the  deepest  necessities. 
He  speaks  not  of  outward  and  temporal  wants,  but  of 
those  deep-seated  ones  which  belong  to  the  very 
nature  of  the  soul.  Was  the  greatest  of  all  teachers 
mistaken,  who  gave  an  impulse  to  human  thought  on 
God  and  sin,  with  reference  to  our  actual  state  in  this 
world,  which  has  not  been  lost,  but  at  these  distant 
ages  keeps  the  active  mind  of  Christendom  at  work 
upon  a  science,  for  which  no  better  nomenclature  has 
been  found  than  his  two  great  terms,  God  and  sinners  ? 
A  Saviour  is  the  philosophical  response  to  man  as  he  is. 

What  does  that  steamer  want  yonder,  helplessly 
floundering  in  the  trough  of  the  sea  ?  She  wants  her 
propeller.  The  shaft  or  screw  is  out  of  order.  But 
now  see  those  seamen  aboard  of  her.    They  are  busy 

9f 


1 82    ARGUMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 


fitting  up  rigging  and  masts  and  sails.  They  seem  to 
turn  no  attention  to  the  repair  of  the  shaft  or  break. 
The  ship  started  with  a  propeller,  her  whole  construc- 
tion indicates  a  propeller,  and  yet  those  sailors  seem 
not  one  to  have  the  least  idea  of  endeavoring  to  put 
the  screw  in  working  order  again.  They  act  as  if  ig- 
norant of  the  cause  of  the  disaster.  They  conceive 
of  nothing  for  their  need  to  set  the  ship  in  motion,  but 
the  old,  insufficient  sail.  Like  to  this  is  the  folly  of 
those  who,  conscious  that  there  is  something  wrong 
in  human  nature,  fail  to  look  for  the  true  cause,  and 
to  give  a  rational  interpretation  to  human  needs. 
They  invent  expedients,  give  false  interpretations, 
and  seek  with  these  to  move  man  forward  to  his  des- 
tiny. 

Conscience  and  history,  as  well  as  revelation,  testify 
to  the  sin  and  fall  of  our  race,  and  so  there  comes  the 
need  of  redemption.  What  folly  to  ignore  this  fact, 
or  to  attempt  to  set  it  aside  by  the  theory  that  sin  is 
not  essentially  and  absolutely  evil,  but  only  a  stage 
or  episode  in  the  history  of  progressive  being,  or  else 
the  disciplinary  trial  of  a  more  refined  and  exalted 
virtue,  contributing  ultimately  to  the  ever  accruing 
sum  total  of  happiness  and  good  in  the  everlasting 
universe. 

But  will  this  theory  do  in  actual  life  ?  Will  it  save 
the  criminal  from  the  penitentiary  or  the  gallows? 
How  then  can  it  serve  as  a  sail  to  carry  the  disabled 


AEG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 83 

and  sinking  vessel  of  humanity  safely  on  its  course  to 
the  desired  haven  ?  The  very  construction  of  man 
points  to  a  Saviour  when  enlightened  reason  compre- 
hends it. 

Just  as  a  skilful  palaeontologist  may  know  how  to 
construct  an  animal  which  he  never  saw,  from  the 
thigh-bone,  by  certain  laws  of  relation,  juxtaposition, 
and  function,  so  if  it  were  profitable  we  might  pro- 
ceed at  length  from  the  faculties  which  man  possesses, 
or  from  a  selected  set  of  faculties,  to  build  up  in  man 
a  being  whose  crown  is  the  divine  image,  whose  char- 
acter perfection,  whose  heirloom  immortality ;  and  so 
find  in  him  a  being  whose  present  need,  logically,  is . 
restoration  to  a  lost  estate. 

When  Shelley,  one  of  the  world's  interpreters, 
wrote, — 

"  O  stream, 
Whose  source  is  inaccessibly  profound, 
Whither  do  thy  mysterious  waters  tend  ? 
Thou  imagest  my  life.    Thy  darksome  stillness. 
Thy  dazzling  waves,  thy  loud  and  hollow  gulfs. 
Thy  searchless  fountain,  and  invisible  source  • 
Have  each  their  type  in  me." — 

he  simply  admitted  that  for  a  stream  there  must  be 
a  source,  though  invisible.  Jesus  taught  very^  natu- 
rally, there  must  be  a  vine  for  a  branch.  Despite  all 
the  diatribes  of  infidelity,  man  will  feel  as  though  he 
had  sustained  a  loss,  of  propeller,  source,  vine,  some- 
thing which  his  construction  indicates  he  started 
with  in  the  mystery  of  life.    Why  for  example,  must 


1 84   ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 

dear  and  loving  ones  part,  never  to  meet  again? 
Cruel  loss.    Did  love  start  that  way  ?    The  ancient 
Greek  myth  was  of  Prometheus,  that  he  moulded  a 
human  form  out  of  the  dust  of  the  earth,  and  then  by 
fire  stolen  from  heaven,  animated  it  with  a  living  soul. 
Spirit  can  not  be  fire,  for  fire  can  not  think.    We  did 
not  start  that  way.    Another  theory  says,  "  The  ac- 
tion of  that  congeries  of  atoms  whose  union  forms 
the  brain,  constitutes  the  soul."    Did  we  start  that 
way  ?    Yonder  organ  supposes  deft  fingers  to  draw 
from  it  the  anthem,  "  I  know  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth."    My  soul  is  not  in  me,  it  is  I.    If  now  I  at- 
tempt to  value  my  soul,  to  weigh  myself  to  myself, 
not  all  the  solid  globes  of  creation  put  into  the  oppo- 
site scale  will  bring  the  balance  to  an  equipoise.  To 
purchase  myself  for  myself,  the  wealth  of  the  universe, 
did  I  possess  it,  would  be  no  more  than  an  adequate 
sum  to  offer ;  -to  speak  my  preciousness,  words  dis- 
gust me  with  their  unmeaning  sound  and  seal  my  lips 
in  silence  ;  to  think  my  value,  thought  is  drowned  in 
the  deep  of  meditation,  and  rises  panting  to  the  sur- 
face, glad  to  draw  breath  in  a  medium  more  congenial 
to  it.    In  the  old  Book  I  read  :  "  What  is  a  man  ad- 
vantaged if  he  gain  the  whole  world  and  lose  him- 
self ? "    It  is  Christ's  philosophy  of  salvation.  He 
came  to  awaken  human  wants  and  to  teach  men  to 
place  a  true  value  upon  themselves.    We  started  with 
a  God-given  self,  and  have  lost  on  the  voyage. 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 8  5 

We  see  it  now,  that  it  is  the  propeller  that  is  lost. 
Man  needed  to  be  awakened  as  from  sleep  and  death. 
He  needed  light.  Was  it  possible  for  him  to  be  so 
lost  and  ignorant?  The  ignorance  of  man,  after  all 
his  sciences,  might  be  the  demonstration  of  many  dis- 
courses. With  all  the  vaunted  progress  of  the  race, 
there  are  lost  arts  which  have  not  been  recovered  to 
this  proud  day,  but  some  day  they  may  be,  and  if  so, 
the  great,  fond  term  progress  may  allow  some  place 
for  the  discovery  of  God,  and  spiritual  things  lost 
along  with  other  knowledge  and  parts  which  his  con- 
struction indicates  belong  to  man,  because  once  pos- 
sessed, though  now  absent  and  unrecovered.  Hence 
was  Christ's  trumpet  call  of  men  to  repentance. 
Hence  He  taught  the  unintelligent  prayer  of  need  to 
say,  "  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,"  and  as  Prof. 
Christlieb  most  beautifully  says:  "What  teaching 
about  God  can  be  more  sublime,  or  more  adapted  to 
the  yearnings  of  our  heart  than  this  ?  Where  do  we 
find  an  idea  of  God  which  satisfies  our  religious  needs 
so  abundantly  as  the  truth  that  God  is  love?  "  Does 
not  every  heart,  led  by  an  involuntary  bias,  say  "  yea 
and  amen  "  to  this  ?  Does  not  this  idea  force  itself 
directly  as  the  truth  upon  all,  even  unbelievers  ?  Any 
man  who,  even  in  the  smallest  degree,  acknowledges 
his  deepest  need,  will  lay  hold  on  this  truth  with  both 
hands,  and  cry  out,  "  Yea,  this  is  God ;  and  He  must 
be  this,  not  merely  on  His  own  behalf,  on  behalf  of 


1 86   ARGUMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY, 


His  moral  perfection  and  beauty,  but  for  my  sake 
also,  if  there  is  to  be  any  hope  for  me ;  the  God  of 
love  is  the  only  God  who  can  satisfy  my  needs."  The 
human  mind  is  undoubtedly  the  arena  of  most  con- 
flicting thoughts  about  divine  things.  What  is  tech- 
nically termed  unbelief  has  its  powerful  temptations, 
and  is  so  utterly  impracticable  that  the  only  philo- 
sophical response  to  it,  is  that  faith  which  Jesus  taught, 
the  sole  condition  of  salvation ;  which  has  been  the 
wonder  and  dispute  of  the  ages,  and  yet  has  been  the 
single  organizing  principle  of  the  Christian  Church  and 
civilization.  If  I  lack  faith,  my  greatest  want,  I  surely 
find  it  replied  to  in  Him  who  so  framed  His  own,  and 
the  teachings  of  His  disciples,  as  to  make  the  hack- 
neyed  term,  ^'  believe,"  the  single  great  formula  of  all 
the  power  and  prevalence  that  Christianity  has  had  in 
the  world  to  this  day.  There  is  a  strange  demand  of 
the  human  soul  met  in  simple  faith ;  that  is,  faith  is 
an  affinity  of  our  being  for  the  spiritual  and  immortal 
such  as  a  bar  of  steel  has  for  magnetism.  We  must 
believe,  we  do  believe,  or  our  wondrous  life  is  about 
lost.  Absolute  infidelity  makes  life  a  fragment  indeed, 
a  frustum  cut  close  to  the  ground,  of  a  pyramid  of 
consciousness,  and  veins,  and  organs,  and  powers,  and 
raptures,  and  knowledge,  and  glory,  whose  apex  faith 
conceives  to  pierce  the  dome  of  eternity.  We  must 
believe,  and  ChHst  gave  direction  to  the  affinity,  so  as 
to  make  faith  almost  the  apotheosis  of  man.  The  ex- 
ercise of  faith  is  the  great  Christian  secret.  . 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 8 7 

At  this  point  it  is  time  for  the  speculative,  which 
can  only  be  symbolical,  to  give  place  to  the  practical 
argument  of  our  theme. 

Second.  The  practical  argument.  Descartes  said,  I 
think,  therefore  I  am."  The  Christian  says,  "  I  know 
whom  I  have  believed."  But  our  point  of  departure 
here,  shall  be  rather  where  we  left  off  in  the  former 
part  of  the  discussion,  Henry  Rogers  well  puts^it : 
**  A  man  who  thinks  this  world  all,  must  find  it  hard  to 
say  anything  consolatory  to  one  who  feels  that  all  is 
fleeting  away  from  him  (in  death).  How  consoling  it 
must  be  for  a  wife  to  be  told  by  her  husband,  '  We 
are  about,  my  dear  creature,  to  part,  and  to  part  for- 
ever.' You  are  nothing  but  a  chance  composition  of 
organic  molecules,  nor  am  I  anything  more ;  we  shall 
never  have  individual  consciousness  again.  But  let 
me  tell  you,  for  your  unspeakable  consolation,  that 
you  will  pass  into  new  forms  and  sublimely,  though 
unconsciously,  last  forever."  It  is  related  of  the  dying 
moments  of  Dr.  Samuel  Johnson  that,  with  his  last 
breath,  the  great  essayist  said,  "  There  is  no  rational 
principle  by  which  a  man  can  die  contented,  but  a  - 
trust  in  the  mercy  of  God  through  the  merits  of  Jesus 
Christ  ";  and  addressing  his  physician,  he  repeated, 
"  My  dear  doctor,  believe  a  dying  man,  there  is  no 
salvation  but  in  the  Lamb  of  God."  It  is  authentic- 
ally given  as  the  inscription  written  by  himself,  to  be 
read  on  the  tombstone  of  Charles  Reade,  the  distin- 


1 8  8   ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 

guished  and  voluminous  author — I  quote  only  part, 
all  being  in  the  same  vein — "  I  hope  for  holiness  and 
happiness  in  a  future  life  only  from  the  merits  and 
mediation  of  Jesus  Christ.  He  has  promised,  '  Him 
that  Cometh  to  me  I  will  in  no  wise  cast  out,'  and  He 
will  not  break  His  word."  It  is  a  human  experience 
that  man  can  create  no  Eden  for  himself  on  earth 
where  the  sentence  does  not  follow  him  :  So  He 
drove  out  the  man."  The  only  antithesis  to  this  ever 
uttered  is  in  the  very  words,  "  Him  that  cometh  to 
me  I  will  in  no  wise  drive  out."  The  cherubim  guard 
is  withdrawn,  the  flaming  sword  is  sheathed,  and  the 
gate  of  Paradise  is  open  again. 

In  another  way,  by  experience,  but  without  ac- 
knowledging it,  John  Stuart  Mill,  in  his  autobiogra- 
phy, discloses  the  need  which  the  human  soul  has  of 
God.  The  circumstance  is  in  connection  with  the 
death  of  his  wife.  He  says,  Her  memory  is  to  me  a 
religion,  and  her  approbation  the  standard  by  which, 
summing  up  as  it  does  all  worthiness,  I  endeavor  to 
regulate  my  life."  Her  memory  was  his  religion,  and 
"  to  feel  her  still  near  him  "  was  his  only  consolation, 
though  he  could  not  allow  that  she  had  any  possible 
existence.  Well  might  such  a  man,  with  indescribable 
sadness,  say :  "  I  call  the  flaw  in  my  life,  a  flaw  in  life 
itself." 

Thus,  negatively  as  well  as  positively,  human  expe- 
rience testifies  to  the  necessity  of  religion.    But  the 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 89 

joy  of  the  soul  in  Christ  constitutes  the  chief  testi- 
mony to  the  power  and  reaHty  of  the  Christian's  faith. 
There  is  no  gainsaying  his  joyful  and  positive  decla- 
ration, "  I  know  whom  I  have  believed." 

It  is  related  of  a  revival  occasion,  that  from  curios- 
ity a  lawyer  entered  a  meeting  for  the  relation  of 
Christian  experience  and  took  notes.  But  so  im- 
pressed was  he,  that  at  the  close  he  arose  and  said : 
"  My  friends,  I  hold  in  my  hand  the  testimony  of  no 
less  than  sixty  persons  who  have  spoken  here  this 
evening,  who  all  testify  with  one  consent  that  there 
is  a  divine  reality  in  religion,  they  having  experienced 
its  power  in  their  own  hearts.  Many  of  these  persons 
I  know.  Their  word  would  be  received  in  any  court 
of  justice.  Lie  they  would  not,  I  know ;  and  mis- 
taken they  can  not  all  be.  I  have  hitherto  been 
sceptical  in  relation  to  these  matters.  I  now  tell  you 
that  I  am  fully  convinced  of  the  truth,  and  intend  to 
lead  a  new  life.  Will  you  pray  for  me?"  The  story 
would  be  worth  nothing  but  that  it  has  its  counter- 
part in  something  familiar,  I  am  sure,  to  every  one 
whom  I  address. 

It  is  to  be  accepted  as  the  latest  settlement  of 
metaphysical  philosophy,  that  reason  is  purely  a 
mental  faculty,  without  concrete  contents,  and  that, 
psychologically  considered,  there  is  nothing  contained 
in  reason  which  could  become  the  property  of  man 
in  any  other  way  than  by  means  of  experience.  Ex- 


1 90   ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 

perimental  religion  is  its  own  grand  argument.  The 
very  discovery  to  a  man  that  he  is  a  sinner,  meets  a 
want  of  his  nature. 

The  Christian  conviction  of  sin  awakens  this  want 
in  a  thorough  and  most  potent  way.    It  condemns 
the  world  as  guilty,  and  defies  contradiction  to  its 
testimony  in  the  face  of  all   the  moral  evil  that 
abounds.    "  Miserable  sinners  "  is  an  expression  that 
has  touched  humanity's  great  heart  with  a  verisimili- 
tude like  nothing  else  ;  and  the  next  thing  is,  Have 
mercy  upon  us."    Man  needs  mercy  of  God,  if  he 
ever  needed  anything.    Even  a  German  free-thinker 
writes  :  "  Oh,  do  not  tell  me  that  to  act  uprightly, 
and  to  do  one's  duty,  and  to  have  a  good  conscience 
are  sufficient.    I  ask  you,  ye  virtuous  ones,  who 
among  us  does  his  duty  and  has  a  good  conscience 
in  the  highest  sense  of  the  word?    Not  one  among 
us  all.  We  all  are  and  remain  striving  and  struggling 
ones,  who  in  manifold  ways  err  and  stumble  and 
fall  short."     It  answers  a  very  need  of  the  soul 
to  be  shown  that  we  are  sinners,  under  wrath  and 
over  hell.    It  is  the  initial  conviction  of  the  regenera- 
tion which  has  been  at  once  the  testimony  and  the 
phenomenon  of  the  Christian  ages.    There  is  posi- 
tively no  explanation  of  the  change  which,  from  time 
immemorial,  has  taken  place  in  the  dispositions,  sen- 
timents, and  lives  of  men  religiously,  but  the  grace  of 
God  bringing  a  needed  salvation.    From  the  data  of 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 9 1 

experience  the  great  Christian  induction  is  drawn. 
This  ej^perience  to  be  attained,  has  one  inexorable 
condition,  which  is,  that  we  seek  God  with  thje  whole 
heart,  for  this  precisely  is  faith  with  the  heart ;  and 
"  with  the  heart  man  believeth  unto  righteousness." 
But,  this  done,  a  Divine  power  rests  upon  the  soul 
of  man  ;  there  is  a  change,  a  readjustment,  as  it  were, 
of  appetencies  and  habits  of  thought ;  the  love  of 
Christ  begins  its  sweet  constraint  upon  the  man,  and 
strange,  happy  joys  come  from  the  grand  apocalypse 
of  faith,  as  each  may  phrase  it  for  himself,  that 
"  Jesus  died  for  me."    Oh,  must  not  that  be  true 
which  has  given  the  truest  satisfaction  to  the  religious 
need  of  man?    It  is  all  in  the  formula,  Jesus  died 
for  me.    It  answers  the  question  of  death,  to  solve 
whose  dreary  meaning,  if  possible,  has  been  the  final 
cause  of  all  the  philosophies  which  have  inquired 
into  the  subjects  of  God  and  human  destiny,  as  it  was 
the  final  cause  of  Christ's  work  that  "whosoever  be- 
lieveth in  Him  should  not  perish,  but  have  everlasting 
life."    The  philosophies  have  given  up  the  problem 
in  despair ;  Christianity  gives  the  soul  one  thought, 
Jesus  died  for  me.    The  cross  of  our  Lord  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  central  glory  of  revelation's  answer  to 
our  religious  wants,  and  wherein  lies  its  sufficiency  is 
the  final  question  of  all  knowledge  in  God  and  im- 
mortality, as  far  as  man  has  attained  on  earth. 

O  wondrous  cross !  unto  infidel  culture  foolishness, 


192   ARGUMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 

and  unto  sin  a  stumbling-block,  but  unto  us  who  are 
saved,  ourselves  of  the  same  race  of  sinners  and  un- 
believers, Christ  the  power  of  God  and  the  wisdom  of 
God.  O  wondrous  cross!  a  beam  of  heaven's  own 
light  it  has  been  upon  moral  darkness.  He  who 
giveth  to  the  beast  his  food  and  to  the  young  ravens 
which  cry,  has  provided  the  cross  for  the  spiritual 
needs  of  man.  If  it  shall  appear  that  we  need  for- 
giveness for  our  sins  of  perverse  nature,  that  is 
pledged  in  the  cross.  O  wondrous  cross  of  our  Lord 
and  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  who  suffered  for  us !  Ye 
know  His  grace  as  it  is  recorded  in  the  books.  He 
was  that  Just  One,  a  perfectly  pure  and  holy  being  in 
a  world  where  society  and  the  human  heart  reek  with 
moral  pollution  and  selfishness  and  evil  of  every  kind, 
and  where  virtue,  purity,  and  truth  have  a  struggling, 
•  faint  existence.  He  took  upon  Himself,  to  bear  for 
our  sakes,  the  inevitable  curse  of  a  holy  God  upon 
such  a  wretched,  guilty  state  as  humanity  exhibits, 
and  which  man,  by  a  law  of  his  mind,  secretly  curses 
in  unmeasured  terms.  O  wondrous  cross !  whereon 
the  Son  of  God  was  the  propitiation  or  mercy-seat  for 
our  sins.  O  wondrous  cross !  on  which  in  agony  and 
blood  Jesus  died,  "the  just  for  the  unjust,  that  He 
might  bring  us  to  God."  Distance  from  God  is  the 
final  consciousness  of  materialism,  pantheism,  deism, 
atheism,  and  the  moral  sense  of  mankind.  Jesus 
brings  us  near  to  Him — as  near  as  a  child  to  a  father, 


AEG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.  193 

as  near  as  a  heart  to  the  bosom  of  infinite  love.  The 
high-priests  of  materiahsm  chant  at  their  altars  the 
funeral  dirges  of  a  race,  that  shall  ever  and  forever  be 
silent  in  the  grave.  They  have  not  heard,  with  the 
hearing  of  faith,  that  death  has  been  swallowed  up 
in  victory,  through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ. 

It  is  the  bold  declaration  of  revelation,  that  it  was 
God  in  the  person  of  His  Son,  and  made  in  the  like- 
ness of  sinful  flesh,  who  suffered  on  the  cross  for  sin- 
ners. So  Paul  rapturously  hails  Him,  as  he  glories 
in  the  cross  alone,  in  comparison  with  all  the  culture 
and  taste  of  the  Greek  world.  At  this  point  unutter- 
able awe  must  seizie  our  minds,  as  though  we  knew 
not  what  we  said,  when  we  proclaim  of  the  great  God 
such  act  and  condescension.  But  in  this  act  all  of 
God,  in  fact,  is  given,  and  the  human  heart  can  ask, 
can  need  no  more.  It  is  the  summit  of  answer  to 
our  religious  needs. 

What  in  comparison  with  this  has  human  wisdom 
or  philosophy  to  give  the  soul  ?  About  the  cross 
Christian  faith  and  hope  have  hovered  in  all  time, 
with  unspeakable  comfort  and  satisfaction.  Where, 
among  the  lowly  and  the  illiterate,  the  blood  of  the 
Lamb  has  been  scarcely  more  than  a  cant  phrase, 
through  very  disability  of  understanding,  faith  in  it 
has  wrought  a  change,  and  joy  in  the  life  which  has 
been  a  perpetual  anthem  of  happy  testimony.  While, 
on  the  other  hand,  the  great  and  the  learned  have 
9 


194   ARGUMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 

bowed  at  the  foot  of  the  cross,  finding  nothing  ever 
so  sweet  and  precious  to  their  souls  as  that  which 
they  have  discovered  in  it.    Sir  J.  Bowring  writes; 

"  In  the  cross  of  Christ  I  glory, 

Towering  o'er  the  wrecks  of  time  ; 
All  the  light  of  sacred  story 
Gathers  round  its  head  sublime. 

"  When  the  woes  of  life  o'ertake  me, 
Hopes  deceive  and  fears  annoy. 
Never  shall  the  cross  forsake  me ; 
Lo  !  it  glows  with  peace  and  joy." 

Its  atonement  for  sin  is  ample,  and  then  only  is 
one  prepared  to  apprehend  the  merits  of  the  cross 
when  his  sense  of  need  is  deepest  and  most  trouble- 
some. Nay,  it  requires  a  very  sense  of  emptiness  to 
receive  Christ,  to  realize  that  in  Him  all  fulness 
dwells,  and  all  for  wretched  man.  Are  we  morally 
weak  and  consciously  infirm  in  goodness,  to  our  in- 
finite chagrin  ?  He  is  so  far  the  complement  of  our 
better  longings  as  to  be  in  whole  our  righteousness. 
Are  we  in  sorrow  and  trouble,  of  labyrinthine  char- 
acter, through  various  and  unlike  conditions  which 
this  life  thoroughly  knows?  A  mild  and  suffering 
face  looks  down  upon  us  from  the  cross,  as  much  as 
to  say, I  know  it  all." 

Through  trouble  and  sorrow  how  many  have  been 
led  to  see  their  need  of  a  higher  sympathy  and  a  di- 
viner support  than  earth  could  afford.    It  is  indeed 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 9  5 

enough  to  move  an  infinite  pity,  to  look  upon  the  his- 
toric experience  of  the  average  human  heart.  I  won- 
der if  I  can  portray  it  in  Hnes  and  colors  of  words. 
Sickness  and  pain  of  body  are  but  the  lighter  traces 
of  the  shade  that  must  be  cast  upon  all  the  vivacity 
and  vitality  and  brightness  and  prosperity  with  which, 
in  colors  dipped  from  the  rainbow,  we  might  repre- 
sent the  scene  of  life.  Mistakes,  and  unimproved  or 
lost  opportunities,  thicken  the  shadow  which  deepens 
as  the  years  whirl  on  and  can  not  be  repeated  ;  while 
drawbacks,  disappointments,  defeats,  or  losses  over- 
cast with  clouds  the  successes  of  the  most  prosperous, 
the  resources  of  the  happiest.  A  troubled  sea  of  rest- 
lessness now  appears  upon  the  scene,  suddenly  spring- 
ing up,  realized  in  youth,  at  the  first  stirrings  of  ma- 
turity, or  the  awakening  consciousness  of  mind  and 
aspiration  and  capacity.  Again,  it  is  a  painful  sight, 
the  agitations  of  the  heart  arising,  here  and  there, 
from  the  provocations  which  abound  of  anger  and  ill- 
feeling  and  severe  anxiety  and  fierce  distress ;  anon 
subsiding  with  time,  or,  if  entirely  passed  away,  leav- 
ing behind  them  the  apprehension  that  a  new  ferment 
may  at  any  moment  work  up  the  soul  into  the  same 
tossings  and  heavings  as  before.  In  another  part, 
eyes  and  hands  and  heart  are  uplifted  in  the  demand 
for  light  upon  the  human  mysteries;  and  the  trials  of 
a  mind  in  the  honest  and  earnest  search  for  truth  can 
be  known  only  by  those  who  have  suffered.  Else^ 


196   ARGUMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 

where  upon  the  scene  appears  the  conflict,  the  strug- 
gle of  the  better  with  the  baser  nature,  in  that  terrible 
duel  of  the  soul's  dualism,  a  vivid  knowledge  of  which 
is  a  clear  and  painful  recollection,  with  every  one  be- 
fore me,  as  he  recalls  the  times  when  temper  or  appe- 
tite or  cupidity  or  self-will — in  short,  sin — got  the 
better  of  him,  made  him  wrong  in  spirit  and  action, 
despite  all  his  finer  feelings  and  more  upright  prin- 
ciples to  the  contrary,  and  extorted  the  cry,  Oh, 
wretched  man  that  I  am  !  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
this  body  of  death?"  And  beyond  all  this  struggle 
and  conflict  is  the  grave. 

I  believe  in  Christianity  because  it  has  one  short 
method  with  all  these  mental  and  moral  states, — to 
enlighten,  cheer,  deliver ;  to  give  peace,  relief,  and 
hope ;  and  that  method  is  expressed  in  a  spiritual  law 
of  Christ's  discovery  to  us,  and  which  is  as  infallible 
as  either  of  Kepler's  three  laws  in  the  astronomical 
world,  viz.:  "If  any  man  will  do  His  will,  he  shall 
know  of  the  doctrine,  whether  it  be  of  God,  or  whether 
I  speak  of  myself"  (John  vii.  17).  Not  the  speaker 
but  the  truth  is  the  test  and  authority  of  divine  truth. 
It  is  so  in  nature.  What  is  all  physical  science  but  the 
homage  of  the  mind  before  the  works  of  nature? 
Man  must  be  willing  to  follow  nature's  will  to  know 
her  doctrine,  and  not  endeavor  to  conform  her  to  his 
theory.  So  it  was  found  out  that  the  earth  is  spher- 
ical and  revolves  around  the  sun,  when  man  did  na- 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 9; 

ture's  will,  so  to  speak,  and  surrendered  his  own  ideas 
that  the  world  must  be  flat  and  rested  on  a  tortoise's 
back.    In  like  manner  Christianity  is  the  homage, 
the  submission  of  the  mind  to  the  truth  as  it  is.  We 
must  let  the  truth  teach  us,  as  the  worlds  in  order 
have  passed  before  the  astronomer  and  taught  him 
their  gravitations ;  as  genera  and  species  have  in- 
structed the  philosopher,  and  as  all  nature  amazes 
the  mind  of  the  observer  by  the  way  she  does  things, 
while  man  can  only  sit  by  and  watch  and  wonder  and 
learn  in  receptive  obedience.    The  concept  of  God, — 
''all  o'er,  consummate,  absolute,  full-orbed,  in  His 
whole  round  of  glorious  rays  complete," — is  beyond 
human  capacity.    No  system  of  Him  can  be  framed 
by  the  mind  of  man.    But  the  Christian  student,  sit- 
ting in  submission  before  the  arcana  of  God,  who  has 
ordained  the  system  of  salvation,  finds  that  Jesus 
Christ  has  power  on  earth  to  forgive  sins,  which  is 
the  first  great  fundamental  fact  in  spiritual  things,  as 
gravitation  is  in  the  movements  of  the  planetary  and 
stellar  universe.    What,  for  instance,  has  that  man 
discovered,  after  an  example  of  ever-current  history 
in  the  Church, — the  man  who,  stubborn  and  worldly 
in  his  opposition  to  religion,  is  finally  overtaken  by 
conviction  ;  and  on  some  auspicious  day  returns  to 
his  family  from  the  place  of  prayer,  greets  his  praying 
wife  with  a  new  and  gentle  manner,  exhibits  a  new 
light  in  his  eye,  a  new  expression  on  his  countenance, 


1 98    ARG  UMENT  FROM  R  UMAN  NECESSITY. 

a  new,  kind  style  of  his  entireness?  He  has  found 
the  Saviour,  and  behold,  he  prayeth. 

Nor  is  the  testimony  any  less  clear,  of  a  new 
power  of  self-government  vouchsafed  to  the  soul  in 
religion,  and  the  enthronement  at  last  of  the  spiritual 
over  the  carnal  mind,  in  the  true  redemption  of  our 
nature  to  the  divine  image.  It  is  a  blessed  consum- 
mation, the  idea  of  which  leads  naturally  to  that 
which  shall  be  the  closing  as  it  is  the  crowning  sub- 
jective consideration  for  the  truth  of  religion,  viz., 
that  eternal  destiny  or  salvation  is  determined  not  by 
a  man's  works  of  righteousness  that  he  has  done,  but 
by  what  he  is  in  Jesus  Christ.  Your  thoughts  fly 
instantly  to  works,  fruits,  virtue,  exemplified  as  the 
test  of  character,  and  there  are  fruits  of  the  Spirit 
but  it  requires  only  a  quickened  conscience  to  real- 
ize that  the  highest  ideal  of  obedience  conceivable  for 
imperfect  man  falls  short  of  the  glory  of  God.  Being, 
and  not  doing,  this  is  the  sublime  mystery  of  Chris- 
tianity that  quiets  guilty  fears,  inspires  peace  of  con- 
science, explains  the  sanctification  of  the  sinner  unto 
meetness  for  the  inheritance  of  the  saints  in  light,  and 
is  absolutely  the  satisfying  trust  of  the  soul  that  has 
learned  it,  and  that  is  most  alive  to  the  perplexing  prob- 
lems of  human  life  and  destiny.  It  is  at  this  point 
precisely  that  restless  thinkers  of  the  Christian  na- 
tions, having  vainly  endeavored  to  quench  the  flames 
of  hell  in  floods  of  philosophical  speculation,  have 


ARG  UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    1 99 

found  a  divine  response  to  their  inward  yearnings  in 
the  philosophy  that  Christ  is  the  end  of  the  law  for 
righteousness  to  every  one  that  believeth,  and  have 
realized  in  embracing  it,  that  Christianity  met  as 
nothing  else  would  answer,  the  wants  in  the  human 
breast  of  a  deep  and  shamefaced  moral  incompetency. 

Having  thus  completed  the  course  of  inquiry,  which 
in  the  difficulty  of  deciding  upon  the  route  of  thought 
to  pursue  in  one  brief  discourse  upon  our  theme,  we 
proposed  to  ourselves  as  most  appropriate  for  the 
occasion,  it  will  be  seen  that  we  have  claimed  for 
Christianity,  the  revelation  of  God  and  spiritual 
things,  deliverance  from  the  sense  of  guilt,  and  the 
conception  of  a  higher  ideal  of  goodness  than  is  nat- 
ural to  the  mind,  in  satisfaction  of  the  spiritual  wants 
of  man.  It  remains  for  us  only  for  a  moment,  in 
conclusion,  to  revel  in  the  lively  hope  concerning 
which  you  heard  the  apostolic  testimony  presented 
in  the  first  lecture  of  the  course ;  the  lively  hope 
unto  which  we  have  been  begotten  by  the  resurrec- 
tion of  Jesus  Christ  from  the  dead,  as  the  second 
lecture  illustrated ;  the  hope  brought  us  by  the  Per- 
son of  whom  the  third  lecture  treated,  who  abolished 
death  and  brought  life  and  immortality  to  light ;  the 
hope  built  upon  the  rock  of  ethical  truth,  as  the 
fourth  lecture  expounded ;  the  lively  hope  that  has 
lived  through  the  ages  of  Christian  history  which  the 
fifth  lecture  surveyed. 


200   ARGUMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY. 


Newton  can  follow  the  stars  and  extort  from  them 
their  secrets,  and  handle  the  reins  by  which  they  are 
guided,  and  predict  their  movements  for  thousands  of 
years  ;  but  with  all  their  concentrated  blaze  of  light, 
he  can  not  tell  where  he  himself  shall  be  after  only 
threescore  years  and  ten.  Sir  Humphrey  Davy  can 
give  the  safety-lamp  to  miners,  but  none  to  the  delv- 
ers  in  the  shallower  mine  of  the  grave.  Stephenson 
and  Eads  can  bridge  the  Tyne  and  the  Mississippi,  but 
they  have  no  arch  to  fling  across  the  river  of  death. 
Science  can  plant  the  lighthouse  to  warn  the  night- 
sailing  ship  off  the  dangerous  coast,  but  it  points  the 
eye  to  no  light  kindled  on  those  phantom  shores  that 
are  never  approached  but  in  the  night,  the  night  of 
death.  Columbus  can  discover  America,  but  not  the 
continent  of  immortality.  Morse  can  talk  and  be 
heard  in  a  whisper  all  round  the  globe,  but  his  wires 
and  keys  have  signalled  in  vain  for  even  a  whisper 
from  the  region  that  is  ever  so  near  to  us  as  the 
grave.  Aristotle  was  the  very  creator  of  logic,  and 
more  than  two  thousand  years  ago  gave  the  \\^rld  a 
system  of  mental  and  moral  philosophy,  but  he  could 
only  say  to  a  dying  fellow-man,  "  I  know  not  whither 
thou  goest." 

In  contrast  with  all  this,  how  clear,  positive,  and 
radiant  are  the  declarations  of  Jesus  Christ.  He 
speaks,  and  doubt  disappears,  light  shines  upon  the 
soul,  and  immortality  is  revealed. 


AEG UMENT  FROM  HUMAN  NECESSITY.    20 1 


Thomas  said  unto  Him,  Lord,  we  know  not 
whither  Thou  goest,  and  how  can  we  know  the  way? 
Jesus  saith  unto  him,  I  am  the  way  and  the  truth  and 
the  life."  He  also  said  to  Martha,  Thy  brother 
shall  rise  again."  To  such  declarations  as  these  the 
troubled,  weary  soul  responds  in  joyful  eagerness, 
*'  Lord,  I  believe,  help  Thou  my  unbelief." 

One  of  the  earliest  recollections  of  my  boyhood, 
and  that  has  had  its  influence  upon  my  life,  is  that  of 
the  dying  shout,  which  rang,  we  may  say,  through  the 
streets  of  my  native  city,  of  the  father  of  the  physi- 
cian who  waited  upon  the  infant  moments  and  grow- 
ing years  of  my  existence.  On  his  death-bed  he  said  : 
"  Be  quiet,  my  son  ?  Be  quiet  ?  No  !  No  !  If  I 
had  the  voice  of  an  angel  I  would  rouse  the  inhabit- 
ants of  Baltimore  to  tell  them  of  the  joys  of  redeem- 
ing love.  Victory !  Victory !  Victory  through  the 
blood  of  the  Lamb !  "  Oh,  thus  to  die ;  it  is  the 
privilege  of  our  faith,  in  hope  of  that  spring-time 
whose  days  shall  lengthen  into  eternity,  in  hope  of 
the  resurrection  and  heaven  which  shall  be  as  surely 
as  with  another  Sunday  the  Easter  sun  is  preparing 
to  rise  upon  a  world  in  fasting  and  sorrow  for  its  sin. 


